Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak on the Emergency Presentation of Acute Appendicitis.
Am Surg
; 86(11): 1508-1512, 2020 Nov.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1067015
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The global crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic has imposed a large burden on health systems worldwide. Nonetheless, acute abdominal surgical emergencies are major causes for nontrauma-related hospital admissions and their incidences were expected to remain unchanged. Surprisingly, a significant decrease in volume and a higher proportion of complicated cases are being observed worldwide.METHODS:
The present study assesses the local impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the emergency presentation of acute appendicitis in a Brazilian hospital. A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients undergoing emergency surgery for the clinically suspected diagnosis of acute appendicitis during the 2-month period of March and April 2020 and the same time interval in the previous year. Data on demographics, timing of symptom onset and hospital presentation, intraoperative details, postoperative complications, hospital length of stay, and histological examination of the specimen were retrieved from individual registries.RESULTS:
The number of appendectomies during the pandemic was 36, which represents a 56% reduction compared to the 82 patients operated during the same period in 2019. The average time of symptom onset to hospital arrival was significantly higher in 2020 (40.6 vs. 28.2 hours, P = .02). The classification of appendicitis revealed a significant higher proportion of complicated cases than the previous year (33.3% vs. 15.2%, P = .04). The rate of postoperative complications and the average length of stay were not statistically different between the groups.CONCLUSION:
Further assessment of patients' concerns and systematic monitoring of emergency presentations are expected to help us understand and adequately address this issue.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Appendectomy
/
Appendicitis
/
Emergencies
/
Emergency Service, Hospital
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
Am Surg
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
0003134820972098
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