Effect of the pandemic on surgical procedures in a tertiary care hospital: A retrospective review
Melekber Çavuş Özkan1
, Bülent Saçak1, Mehmet Deniz Kesimer2, Bahadır Şahin3, Mustafa Ümit Uğurlu4, Esra Yamansavcı Sirzai5, Mustafa Sakar6, Aslan Aykut7, İlker Çiçek1, Ali Cemal Yumuşakhuylu8
1Department of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
2Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
3Department of Urology, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
4Department of General Surgery, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
5Department of Thoracic Surgery, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
6Department of Neurosurgery, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
7Department of Ophthalmology, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
8Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Marmara University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, Türkiye
Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of performing surgeries with necessary precautions and to evaluate demographic characteristics of operated patients during novel coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the infection rates during hospitalization and within 14 days after surgery.
Material and Methods: Between March 15th, 2020 and April 30th, 2020, a total of 639 patients who had been operated on in our center were retrospectively analyzed. According to the triage system, the surgical procedures were classified as emergency, time-sensitive, and elective procedures. Data including age, sex, indication for surgery, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class, pre- and postoperative symptoms, the presence and/ or absence of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result, type of surgery, surgical site, and documented COVID-19 infections during hospitalization and within 21 days after surgery were recorded.
Results: Of the patients, 60.4% were males and 39.6% were females with a mean age of 43.08 ± 22.68 years. Malignancy was the most common indication for surgery (35.5%), followed by trauma (29.1%). The abdominal area and head and neck region were the most frequent surgical sites in 27.4% and 24.9% of the patients, respectively. Of all surgical procedures, 54.9% were emergency and 43.9% were time-sensitive procedures. Of the patients, 84.2% were in ASA Class I-II while 15.8% patients were in ASA Class III, IV and V. General anesthesia was the most common anesthesia type in 83.9% of the patients. The overall rate of COVID-19 infection was 0.63% in the preoperative period. The rate of COVID-19 infection during and after surgery was 0.31%.
Conclusion: With similar infection rates to the general population, surgeries of all types can be performed safely taking preventive measures in the preand postoperative period. It would be wise to perform surgical treatment without delay in patients with an increased risk for mortality and morbidity in accordance with strict infection control principles.
Keywords: COVID-19, operative surgical procedure, demographic
Cite this article as: Çavuş Özkan M, Saçak B, Kesimer MD, Şahin B, Uğurlu MÜ, Yamansavcı Sirzai E, et al. Effect of the pandemic on surgical procedures in a tertiary care hospital: A retrospective review. Turk J Surg 2022; 38 (3): 243-249.
The approval for this study was obtained from Marmara University, School of Medicine, Ethics Committee with the Decision no: 09.2020.706, Date: ????)
Externally peer-reviewed.
Concept - B.S., M.Ç.Ö.; Design - B.S., M.Ç.Ö.; Supervision - B.S.; Data Collection and/or Processing - M.D.K., B.Ş., M.Ü.U., E.Y.S., M.S., A.A., İ.Ç., A.C.Y.; Literature Search - M.Ç.Ö.; Writing Manuscript - M.Ç.Ö.; Critival Review - B.S.
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
The authors declared that this study has received no financial support.