ABSTRACT
Objectives: We retrospectively analyzed COVID-19 patients for clinical and hematologic features and tried to define the most appropriate markers to diagnose and predict the severity. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. All 4443 patients included were diagnosed with reverse trancription-polymerase chain reaction between January 1 and December 30, 2020. We classified patients according to their mode of treatment: outpatient, inpatient in the ward, or inpatients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Results: The mean age of 2283 (51.4%) women and 2160 (48.6%) men included in the study was determined to be 39.77±17.30. Of the 4443 patients, 3985 (89.7%) were outpatients, 330 (7.4%) were inpatients, and 128 (2.9%) patients were treated in the ICU. The mean hospital stay was 8.36±4.55 days for the survivors in the ward group and 2.67±1.53 days for those who died (p=0.031). The mean hospitalization time of the survivors in the ICU group was 19.97±12.09 days, and the mean hospitalization time of the deceased was 13.10±9.99 days (p=0.001). Age, ferritin, D-dimer, glucose, ALT, AST, urea, creatinine, CRP, HgA1c, IMG, IMG%, and RDW-SD showed a gradual and significant increase in outpa-tient, ward, and ICU groups (p<0.001). Na, K, Neu, Neu%, MCV, RDW-CV, MPV, NLR, PLR, and NMR increased gradually from the outpatient group to the service and ICU groups, whereas Ca, RBC, Hgb, and Hct values decreased significantly (p<0.001). WBC, lymph%, and RDW were highest in the ICU group. Conclusion: Advanced age and being male are important risk factors for hospitalization. Indexes such as NLR, PLR, LCR, NMR, and LMR can be used to predict the severity of the disease. © 2022, Kare Publishing. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Aim: Our aim in this study was to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on acute appendicitis (AA) cases. Material and Methods: This study was designed as a single-center, retrospective, and observational study. The patients were divided into three groups relative to the date of the first COVID-19 case in Turkey, which was March 10, 2020 (Group A: before the pandemic;Group B: pandemic period;Group C: the same period one year before the pandemic). A total of 413 patients were included in the study. Results: In terms of treatment modality, the rate of open appendectomy was significantly higher in Group B (p<0.001). Rates of conversion to open surgery, as well as rates of complicated appendicitis were also significantly higher in Group B (p=0.027, p=0.024, respectively). While there was no difference between the groups in terms of preoperative hospitalization duration (p=0.102), it was found that the duration of symptoms, operation time, and postoperative length of hospital stay were significantly higher in Group B (p<0.001, p=0.011, p=0.001, respectively). In addition, the complication rate in group B (8.9%) was also significantly higher than in the other two groups (p=0.023). Discussion: We found that the rate of open surgery, the rate of conversion of laparoscopic surgery to open surgery, complication rates, mean operation time, and postoperative hospital stay were significantly higher in AA patients that underwent surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic period. We believe that the main reason for this negative outcome is the late admission of the patients to the hospital.