IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE GASTROENTEROLOGY PRACTICES IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN LAHORE

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the gastroenterology practices in a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: A comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study The study was conducted at Gastroenterology Department, Combined Military Hospital, Lahore, from Jan 2020 to Jun 2020. Methodology: The departmental workload was recorded from before the pandemic was declared and during the pandemic. The number of procedures including upper GI endoscopies(OGD), Colonoscopies, and Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreato-graphy(ERCP) were recorded. The out-patient department and in-patient department patient load was also recorded for both time periods. Microsoft excel sheet and SPSS version 24 was used to perform data analysis. Results: We performed 34(11.07%) emergency and 273(88.93%) elective endoscopic procedures before the pandemic was declared in March 2020 whereas, afterwards, the load significantly reduced to only 25(32%) emergency and 53(67.95%) elective procedures(p<0.001). In our study, we reported that the frequency of indoor admissions was reduced by 26.8% during the COVID-19 pandemic whereas, the total number of outdoor patients was also substantially reduced from 2096(94.6%) in pre-pandemic period to a mere 350(82.35%) admissions. Conclusion: The patient load and frequency of procedures has both significantly reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.