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. 2021 Jan 19;9(1):100.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare9010100.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Activity in a Tertiary Care Center from Northeastern Romania

Stefan Chiriac  1   2 , Carol Stanciu  2 , Camelia Cojocariu  1   2 , Catalin Sfarti  1   2 , Ana-Maria Singeap  1   2 , Irina Girleanu  1   2 , Tudor Cuciureanu  1 , Laura Huiban  1 , Diana David  2 , Sebastian Zenovia  1 , Robert Nastasa  1 , Gheorghe G Balan  1   2 , Anca Trifan  1   2
Affiliations

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Activity in a Tertiary Care Center from Northeastern Romania

Stefan Chiriac et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to significant changes in endoscopy units worldwide, with potential impact on patients' welfare as well as on endoscopy training. We aimed to assess the real-life impact of COVID-19 on the endoscopy unit in a tertiary care center from Romania.

Methods: A 6.5-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic was compared to a similar period from 2019.

Results: A 6.2-fold decrease of endoscopic procedures was noted. Colonoscopies were reduced from 916 to 42, p < 0.001; flexible sigmoidoscopies from 189 to 14, p = 0.009; upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopies from 2269 to 401, p = 0.006; and ERCP from 234 to 125, p < 0.001. The percentage of emergency procedures increased (38.8% vs. 26.2%, p < 0.001), as well as the rate of endoscopies performed for upper GI bleeding (42.5% vs. 24.4%, respectively, p < 0.001). The detection of cancers was considerably reduced (57 compared to 249, p = 0.001). There were fewer complications and higher success rates (7.6% vs. 19.2%, p < 0.001, and 94.2% vs. 90.7%, respectively). Fellows participation was also reduced from 90% to 40.9% (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the workflow of the endoscopy unit, lowering the number of procedures performed and potentially compromising the early detection of cancers.

Keywords: ERCP; colonoscopy; coronavirus disease; gastrointestinal cancer; gastrointestinal endoscopy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Median values of the age of the patients before and during the COVID-19 period.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Impact of COVID-19 on the numbers of endoscopic procedures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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