The occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on global society with major repercussions on surgical activity. As the pandemic has evolved, the hospital resources available to perform surgeries have been reallocated to COVID-19 patients with a reduction in surgical capacity. The impact has spread from urgent surgery to cancer surgery, and the long-term effects remain to be established. Protocols allowing cost-saving care, such as enhanced recovery after surgery, are tools that can partially offset the rationing of available resources in order to optimize the surgical outcome.