COVID-19 Impact on Vascular Surgery Practice: Experience From an Italian University Regional Hub Center for Vascular Pathology.
Ann Vasc Surg
; 74: 73-79, 2021 Jul.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1064856
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on vascular surgery practice in a regional hub center for complex vascular disease.METHODS:
This is an observational single-center study in which we collected clinical and surgical data during (P1) and after (P2) the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown measures implemented in Northern Italy. We compared those data with the two-month period before the pandemic (P0).RESULTS:
Compared to P0, ambulatory activities were severely reduced during P1 and limited to hospitalized patients and outpatients with urgent criteria. We performed 61 operations (18 urgent and 43 elective), with a decrease in both aortic (-17.8%), cerebrovascular (-53.3%), and peripheral artery (-42.6%) disease treatments. We also observed a greater drop in open procedures (-53.2%) than in endovascular ones (-22%). All the elective patients were treated for notdeferrable conditions and they were COVID-19 negative at the ward admission screening; despite this one of them developed COVID19 during the hospital stay. Four COVID-19 positive patients were treated in urgent setting for acute limb ischemia. Throughout P2 we gradually rescheduled elective ambulatory (+155.5%) and surgical (+18%) activities, while remaining substantially lower than during P0 (respectively -45.6% and -25.7%).CONCLUSIONS:
Despite COVID-19 pandemic, our experience shows that with careful patient's selection, dedicated prehospitalization protocol and proper use of personal protective equipment it is possible to guarantee continuity of care.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vascular Surgical Procedures
/
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
/
Academic Medical Centers
/
Surgeons
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Ann Vasc Surg
Journal subject:
Vascular Diseases
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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