The weekend effect on the provision of Emergency Surgery before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: case–control analysis of a retrospective multicentre database (original) (raw)
Related papers
Impact of COVID-19 on surgical emergencies: nationwide analysis
BJS Open, 2021
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on healthcare in many countries. This study assessed the effect of a nationwide lockdown in France on admissions for acute surgical conditions and the subsequent impact on postoperative mortality. Methods This was an observational analytical study, evaluating data from a national discharge database that collected all discharge reports from any hospital in France. All adult patients admitted through the emergency department and requiring a surgical treatment between 17 March and 11 May 2020, and the equivalent period in 2019 were included. The primary outcome was the change in number of hospital admissions for acute surgical conditions. Mortality was assessed in the matched population, and stratified by region. Results During the lockdown period, 57 589 consecutive patients were admitted for acute surgical conditions, representing a decrease of 20.9 per cent compared with the 2019 cohort. Significant differences between regions ...
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has greatly impacted healthcare systems and society more generally around the world. The management of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 has primarily impacted emergency departments, medical teams, and intensive care units. However, the impact on health systems as a whole, including surgical specialties, has been wide ranging. We aimed to establish the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown on the number and characteristics of general surgical patients reviewed and/or admitted by the surgical team within a district general hospital. We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of patients admitted in the 2week period from start of the lockdown (Monday 23rd March 2020 to 5th April 2020), and the same period 1 year earlier (Monday 25th March 2019 to 7th April 2019). Number of patients reviewed and admitted were compared between the two cohorts. Data including diagnosis, operation/procedural interventions, and length of stay were analyzed. The overall number of patients reviewed and admitted by the surgical team was substantially lower during the period of lockdown (61 vs 126). Of the patients seen during lockdown, a smaller proportion were admitted to hospital after initial surgical review (59% vs 77%, p< 0.05). Interventional/operative procedures were performed in a similar proportion of patients in both cohorts (31%). Our data show that there has been a substantial reduction in the number of patients being referred to and admitted by the general surgical team at our center during the COVID-19 pandemic. Explanations for this include reduced attendance due to risk perception of the patients, the impact of lockdown messages and advice regarding self-isolation, as well as an increased threshold for patient admission during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key learning points include the possible benefits of a reduction in admission to hospital of patients with non-urgent conditions.
World Journal of Emergency Surgery, 2021
Background The aim of this retrospective comparative study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 and delayed emergency department access on emergency surgery outcomes, by comparing the main clinical outcomes in the period March–May 2019 (group 1) with the same period during the national COVID-19 lockdown in Italy (March–May 2020, group 2). Methods A comparison (groups 1 versus 2) and subgroup analysis were performed between patients’ demographic, medical history, surgical, clinical and management characteristics. Results Two-hundred forty-six patients were included, 137 in group 1 and 109 in group 2 (p = 0.03). No significant differences were observed in the peri-operative characteristics of the two groups. A declared delay in access to hospital and preoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rates were 15.5% and 5.8%, respectively in group 2. The overall morbidity (OR = 2.22, 95% CI 1.08–4.55, p = 0.03) and 30-day mortality (OR = 1.34, 95% CI 0.33–5.50, =0.68) were significantly higher in gro...
World Journal of Emergency Surgery
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic is having a deep impact on emergency surgical services, with a significant reduction of patients admitted into emergency surgical units world widely. Reliable figures of this reduction have not been produced yet. Our international audit aimed at giving a precise snapshot of the absolute and relative changes of emergency surgical admissions at the outbreak of the pandemic. Materials and methods Datasets of patients admitted as general surgical emergencies into 45 internationally distributed emergency surgical units during the months of March and April 2020 (Covid-19 pandemic outbreak) were collected and compared with those of patients admitted into the same units during the months of March and April 2019 (pre-Covid-19). Primary endpoint was to evaluate the relative variation of the presentation symptoms and discharge diagnoses between the two study periods. Secondary endpoint was to identify the possible change of therapeutic strategy during the sam...
The impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on emergency department visits of surgical patients
Turkish journal of trauma & emergency surgery, 2023
BACKGROUND: The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) formed the basis for emergency department visits. This study aims to evaluate the effects of the pandemic on emergency department visits of surgical patients. METHODS: The hospital database records of general surgery patients who presented at the emergency department in the period of March 2020-May 2020 (pandemic period) and March 2019-May 2019 (non-pandemic period) were retrospectively analyzed and compared. The primary outcome of this study was the emergency department visit rate of patients requiring a general surgery consultation. Secondary outcomes of this study were patient complaints, diagnosis and treatments, treatment rejection rate, triage category data, the effects of age and gender, and the hospitalization rate. RESULTS: In this study, 618 patients were included: 265 patients from the pandemic period and 353 patients from the non-pandemic period. The analysis and comparison revealed that during the pandemic period, the presentation rate of female patients was lower than that of male patients (45.5% vs. 55.5%, respectively, p=0.045). The triage category rates of patient visits to the hospital during the pandemic period were higher in yellow and red, and lower in green (p<0.01). The incidence of a surgical pathology finding was higher during the pandemic period (p=0.019). The incidence of diseases related to the gastrointestinal tract was higher during the pandemic period (p=0.011). The rate of open surgery in the pandemic period was higher than that of the non-pandemic period (80.5% vs. 32.7%, respectively; p<0.01). The treatment rejection rate was also higher in the pandemic period compared with the non-pandemic period (20% vs. 3.7%, respectively; p<0.01, r). In addition, the hospitalization period was shorter in the pandemic period (p=0.021). CONCLUSION: A 25% reduction in the number of surgical patient visits to the emergency department was observed during the COVID-19 outbreak. The biggest decrease was seen in patients with a green triage code and female patients. It is significant to evaluate the effects of the pandemic on surgical patients visited the emergency department to manage the post-epidemic period and to prepare for possible future epidemic periods.
2021
IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic is having a deep impact on emergency surgical services, with a significant reduction of patients admitted into emergency surgical units world widely. Reliable figures of this reduction have not been produced yet. Our international audit aimed at giving a precise snapshot of the absolute and relative changes of emergency surgical admissions at the outbreak of the pandemic. Materials and methodsDatasets of patients admitted as general surgical emergencies into 45 internationally distributed emergency surgical units during the months of March and April 2020 (Covid-19 pandemic outbreak) were collected and compared with those of patients admitted into the same units during the months of March and April 2019 (pre-Covid-19). Primary endpoint was to evaluate the relative variation of the presentation symptoms and discharge diagnoses between the two study periods. Secondary endpoint was to identify the possible change of therapeutic strategy during the same ...
2022
Background In 2020, on March the 9th, the Italian Prime Minister announced the lockdown, which was officially closed on May the 4th. This extraordinary measure was necessary to contain the CoVID-19 pandemic spread in Italy. During this phase, a significant decrease of patient’s access to Emergency Department (ED) was observed. Delayed access to treatment may have led to a delay in the diagnosis of acute conditions also in the surgical field, as already documented in other areas, with consequences on surgical outcome and survival.Aim of this study is to provide a detailed description of abdominal urgent-emergent conditions surgically treated and surgical outcomes during the lockdown in a tertiary referral Italian hospital, compared with historical data.MethodsA retrospective review of urgent-emergent patients surgically treated in our department was conducted in order to compare patients’ characteristics and surgical outcomes during the period March 9th - May 4th 2020 with the same p...
The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Emergency Department Visits of Surgical Patients
Turkish Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery, 2020
BACKGROUND: The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) formed the basis for emergency department visits. This study aims to evaluate the effects of the pandemic on emergency department visits of surgical patients. METHODS: The hospital database records of general surgery patients who presented at the emergency department in the period of March 2020-May 2020 (pandemic period) and March 2019-May 2019 (non-pandemic period) were retrospectively analyzed and compared. The primary outcome of this study was the emergency department visit rate of patients requiring a general surgery consultation. Secondary outcomes of this study were patient complaints, diagnosis and treatments, treatment rejection rate, triage category data, the effects of age and gender, and the hospitalization rate. RESULTS: In this study, 618 patients were included: 265 patients from the pandemic period and 353 patients from the non-pandemic period. The analysis and comparison revealed that during the pandemic period, the presentation rate of female patients was lower than that of male patients (45.5% vs. 55.5%, respectively, p=0.045). The triage category rates of patient visits to the hospital during the pandemic period were higher in yellow and red, and lower in green (p<0.01). The incidence of a surgical pathology finding was higher during the pandemic period (p=0.019). The incidence of diseases related to the gastrointestinal tract was higher during the pandemic period (p=0.011). The rate of open surgery in the pandemic period was higher than that of the non-pandemic period (80.5% vs. 32.7%, respectively; p<0.01). The treatment rejection rate was also higher in the pandemic period compared with the non-pandemic period (20% vs. 3.7%, respectively; p<0.01, r). In addition, the hospitalization period was shorter in the pandemic period (p=0.021). CONCLUSION: A 25% reduction in the number of surgical patient visits to the emergency department was observed during the COVID-19 outbreak. The biggest decrease was seen in patients with a green triage code and female patients. It is significant to evaluate the effects of the pandemic on surgical patients visited the emergency department to manage the post-epidemic period and to prepare for possible future epidemic periods.
The effect of Covid-19 on emergency surgical cases. Data from a high-volume city
JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY AND STRATEGIC HEALTH RESEARCH
Background COVID-19 placed a tremendous and unforeseen burden on the health system worldwide. In addition to the general surgery practice, the approach to emergency surgery cases, and patients' admissions to the hospitals were also seriously a ected by this unexpected consequence. Here in we aim to pay attention to the notable decrease in cases requiring urgent surgical intervention in our city and to try to explain this upshot. Materials and Methods In this multicenter retrospective study, emergency general surgical interventions performed in the 3rd and 2nd stage private and public hospitals, before the pandemic (January 2020-February 2020), and acute phase of the pandemic (Mid-March 2020-Mid-May 2020) in Sakarya province were compared. Results e distribution of patients before pandemic by gender was 53.1% in male patients, 46.9% in female patients, while 61.6% in male, and 38.4% in female patients during the pandemic respectively. e mean age of patients was 54.72±3.65 before pandemic and 38.54±2.32 during the pandemic, and there was a statistically signi cant di erence in terms of the age distribution of patients undergoing emergency surgery (p<0.05). During the two months before the pandemic, a total of 290 emergency surgeries were performed, while in the acute pandemic period, 164 emergency operations were performed in the same time interval. ere was a statistically signi cant decrease in the number of patients undergoing emergency surgery during the pandemic period compared to non-pandemic (p= 0.012). Conclusion Although the causes for the decrease n cases requ r ng emergency surgery may be part ally def ned. However, the d sease groups whose alterat on reasons cannot be expla ned at the moment may need further deta led strateg c preparat on n order not to encounter undes red results n the future.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical care in the Netherlands
British Journal of Surgery
Background The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption of regular healthcare leading to reduced hospital attendances, repurposing of surgical facilities, and cancellation of cancer screening programmes. This study aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 on surgical care in the Netherlands. Methods A nationwide study was conducted in collaboration with the Dutch Institute for Clinical Auditing. Eight surgical audits were expanded with items regarding alterations in scheduling and treatment plans. Data on procedures performed in 2020 were compared with those from a historical cohort (2018–2019). Endpoints included total numbers of procedures performed and altered treatment plans. Secondary endpoints included complication, readmission, and mortality rates. Results Some 12 154 procedures were performed in participating hospitals in 2020, representing a decrease of 13.6 per cent compared with 2018–2019. The largest reduction (29.2 per cent) was for non-cancer procedures during the first CO...