Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Oct;19(5):e207-e212.
doi: 10.1016/j.surge.2020.09.013. Epub 2020 Nov 19.

The impact of COVID-19 on emergency general surgery admissions and operative volumes: A single centre experience

R M O'Connell  1 , M A Khan  2 , M Amir  2 , M Bucheeri  2 , W Khan  2 , I Z Khan  2 , K M Barry  3
Affiliations

The impact of COVID-19 on emergency general surgery admissions and operative volumes: A single centre experience

R M O'Connell et al. Surgeon. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a significant strain on healthcare resources and utilisation globally. The appearance of the disease in the Republic of Ireland resulted in a broad postponement of scheduled and routine surgical care. The influence of the novel coronavirus, and the associated imposition of public health measures such as school closures and social distancing, on the burden of emergency surgical disease is less clear.

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the number of patients presenting to our institution with emergent surgical illnesses or requiring emergency general surgical procedures.

Methods: All patients attending our service between March 1st 2020 and April 30th 2020 were identified retrospectively by examining electronic handover and electronic discharge summaries, and data were collected relating to demographics, presenting illness, critical care utilisation, length of stay, operative or endoscopic procedure performed, and in-hospital mortality. Similar data were collected March 1st to April 30th 2019, 2018, and 2017 respectively to allow direct comparison.

Results: 151 patients were admitted during the study period, compared to a total of 788 during the proceeding three years (mean 2.49 admissions per night versus 4.35 per night, 42.8% reduction, p < 0.001). Median age of admitted patients was 51.8 years, compared to 50.3 years formerly (p = 0.35). 53 emergency procedures were performed, compared to a median of 70 over the same period in the previous years (mean 0.87 per day versus 1.16 per day, 25.4% reduction, p = 0.05).

Conclusion: A significant overall reduction in the number of patients being admitted to our unit and requiring emergency surgical procedures during March and April 2020 was seen, in line with patterns reported internationally.

Keywords: Covid-19; Emergency general surgery; Operative volumes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest None to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Management of appendicitis by year. NAR = Normal appendicectomy rate. NOTA = Non-operative treatment of appendicitis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zhu N., Zhang D., Wang W., Li X., Yang B., Song J., Zhao X. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(8):727–733. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation report – 51. World Health Organisation; 2020.
    1. Statement from the national public health emergency team - saturday 29th february. Department of Health; 2020. [press release]
    1. Yeo D., Yeo C., Kaushal S., Tan G. COVID-19 & the general surgical department - measures to reduce spread of SARS-COV-2 among surgeons. Ann Surg. 2020;272(1):e3–e4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lei S., Jiang F., Su W., Chen C., Chen J., Mei W. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing surgeries during the incubation period of COVID-19 infection. EClinicalMedicine. 2020:100331. - PMC - PubMed