The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Elective Inpatient Surgical Admissions: Evidence From Maryland.
J Surg Res
; 268: 389-393, 2021 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1360088
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The COVID-19 pandemic led to large-scale cancellation and deferral of elective surgeries. We quantified volume declines, and subsequent recoveries, across all hospitals in Maryland. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
Data on elective inpatient surgical volumes were assembled from the Maryland Health Service Cost Review Commission for years 2019-2020. The data covered all hospitals in the state. We compared the volume of elective inpatient surgeries in the second (Q2) and fourth quarters (Q4) of 2020 to those same quarters in 2019. Analysis was stratified by patient, hospital, and service characteristics.RESULTS:
Surgical volumes were 55.8% lower in 2020 Q2 than in 2019 Q2. Differences were largest for orthopedic surgeries (74.3% decline), those on Medicare (61.4%), and in urban hospitals (57.3%). By 2020 Q4, volumes for most service lines were within 15% of volumes in 2019 Q4. Orthopedic surgery remained most affected (44.5% below levels in 2019 Q4) and Plastic Surgery (21.9% lower).CONCLUSIONS:
COVID-19 led to large volume declines across hospitals in Maryland followed by a partial recovery. We observed large variability, particularly across service lines. These results can help contextualize case-specific experiences and inform research studying potential health effects of these delays and cancellations.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Elective Surgical Procedures
/
COVID-19
/
Hospitalization
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Surg Res
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS