Does Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Affect Perioperative Morbidity and Mortality for Patients Requiring Emergency Instrumented Spinal Surgery? A Single-Center Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic sent shockwaves through health services worldwide. Resources were reallocated. Patients with COVID-19 still required instrumented spinal surgery for emergencies. Clinical outcomes for these patients are not known. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 on perioperative morbidity and mortality for patients undergoing emergency instrumented spinal surgery and to determine risk factors for increased morbidity/mortality. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 11 patients who were negative for COVID-19 and 8 patients who were positive for COVID-19 who underwent emergency instrumented spinal surgery in 1 hospital in the United Kingdom during the pandemic peak. Data collection was performed through case note review. Patients in both treatment groups were comparable for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities, surgical indication, and preoperative neurologic status. Predefined perioperative outcomes were recorded within a 30-day postoperative period. Univariable analysis was used to identify risk factors for increased morbidity. RESULTS: There were no mortalities in either treatment group. Four patients positive for COVID-19 (50%) developed a complication compared with 6 (55%) in the COVID-19-negative group (P > 0.05). The commonest complication in both groups was respiratory infection. Three patients positive for COVID-19 (37.5%) required intensive care unit admission, compared with 4 (36%) in the COVID-19-negative group (P > 0.05). The average time between surgery and discharge was 19 and 10 days in COVID-19-positive and -negative groups, respectively (P = 0.02). In the COVID-19 positive group, smoking, abnormal BMI, preoperative oxygen requirement, presence of fever, and oxygen saturations <95% correlated with increased risk of complications. CONCLUSIONS: Emergency instrumented spinal surgery in patients positive for COVID-19 was associated with increased length of hospital stay. There was no difference in occurrence of complications or intensive care unit admission. Risk factors for increased morbidity in patients with COVID-19 included smoking, abnormal BMI, preoperative oxygen requirement, fever and saturations <95%.

COVID-19 Impact on Neurosurgical Practice: Lockdown Attitude and Experience of a European Academic Center.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented challenge. Different models of reorganization have been described aiming to preserve resources and ensure optimal medical care. Limited clinical neurosurgical experience with patients with COVID-19 has been reported. We share organizational experience, attitudes, and preliminary data of patients treated at our institution. METHODS: Institutional guidelines and patient workflow are described and visualized. A cohort of all neurosurgical patients managed during the lockdown period is presented and analyzed, assessing suspected nosocomial infection risk factors. A comparative surgical subcohort from the previous year was used to investigate the impact on surgical activity. RESULTS: A total of 176 patients were admitted in 66 days, 20 of whom tested positive for COVID-19. Patients initially admitted to the neurosurgical ward were less likely to be suspected for a COVID-19 infection compared with patients admitted for critical emergencies, particularly with neurovascular and stroke-related diseases. The mortality of patients with COVID-19 was remarkably high (45%), and even higher in patients who underwent surgical intervention (77%). In addition to the expected decrease in surgical activity (-53%), a decrease in traumatic emergencies was noted. CONCLUSIONS: By applying infection prevention and resource-sparing logistics measures shared by the international medical community, we were able to maintain essential neurosurgical care in a pandemic with controlled nosocomial infection risk. Special consideration should be given to medical management and surgical indications in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, because they seem to show a problematic hemostatic profile that might result in an unfavorable clinical and surgical outcome.

Tracking the Volume of Neurosurgical Care During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we quantified the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the volume of adult and pediatric neurosurgical procedures, inpatient consultations, and clinic visits at an academic medical center. METHODS: Neurosurgical procedures, inpatient consultations, and outpatient appointments at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were identified from March 23, 2020 through May 8, 2020 (during COVID-19) and March 25, 2019 through May 10, 2019 (before COVID-19). The neurosurgical volume was compared between the 2 periods. RESULTS: A 40% reduction in weekly procedural volume was demonstrated during COVID-19 (median before, 75; interquartile range [IQR], 72-80; median during, 45; IQR, 43-47; P < 0.001). A 42% reduction occurred in weekly adult procedures (median before, 62; IQR, 54-70; median during, 36; IQR, 34-39; P < 0.001), and a 31% reduction occurred in weekly pediatric procedures (median before, 13; IQR, 12-14; median during, 9; IQR, 8-10; P = 0.004). Among adult procedures, the most significant decreases were seen for spine (P < 0.001) and endovascular (P < 0.001) procedures and cranioplasty (P < 0.001). A significant change was not found in the adult open vascular (P = 0.291), functional (P = 0.263), cranial tumor (P = 0.143), or hydrocephalus (P = 0.173) procedural volume. Weekly inpatient consultations to neurosurgery decreased by 24% (median before, 99; IQR, 94-114; median during, 75; IQR, 68-84; P = 0.008) for adults. Weekly in-person adult and pediatric outpatient clinic visits witnessed a 91% decrease (median before, 329; IQR, 326-374; median during, 29; IQR, 26-39; P < 0.001). In contrast, weekly telehealth encounters increased from a median of 0 (IQR, 0-0) before to a median of 151 (IQR, 126-156) during COVID-19 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Significant reductions occurred in neurosurgical operations, clinic visits, and inpatient consultations during COVID-19. Telehealth was increasingly used for assessments. The long-term effects of the reduced neurosurgical volume and increased telehealth usage on patient outcomes should be explored.

Need for ensuring care for neuro-emergencies-lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: To investigate whether patients with critical emergency conditions are seeking or receiving the medical care that they require, we characterized the reality of care for patients presenting with neuro-emergencies during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: In this observational, longitudinal cohort study, all neurosurgical admissions that presented to our department between February 1 and April 15 during the COVID-19 pandemic and during the same time period in 2019 were identified and categorized according to the presence of a neuro-emergency, the route of admission, management, and the category of disease. Further, the clinical course of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and chronic subdural hematoma (cSDH) was investigated representatively for severe vascular and semi-urgent traumatic conditions that present with a wide variety of symptoms. RESULTS: During the pandemic, the percentage of neuro-emergencies among all neurosurgical admissions remained similar but a larger proportion presented through the emergency department than through the outpatient clinic or by referral (*p = 0.009). The total number of neuro-emergencies was significantly reduced (*p = 0.0007) across all types of disease, particularly in vascular (*p = 0.036) but also in spinal (*p = 0.007) and hydrocephalus (*p = 0.048) emergencies. Patients with spinal emergencies presented 48 h later (*p = 0.001) despite comparable symptom severity. For aSAH, the number of cases, aSAH grade, aneurysm localization, and treatment modality did not change but strikingly, elderly patients with cSDH presented less frequently, with more severe symptoms (*p = 0.046), and were less likely to reach favorable outcome (*p = 0.003) at discharge compared with previous years. CONCLUSIONS: Despite pandemic-related restrictive measures and reallocation of resources, patients with neuro-emergencies should be encouraged to present regardless of the severity of symptoms because deferred presentation may result in adverse outcome. Thus, conservation of critical healthcare resources remains essential in spite of fighting COVID-19.