The influence of the national lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemiconSurgical presentations and admissions in a University hospital

ABSTRACT

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly revolutionised medical practice around The world. Healthcare resources had to be prioritise for The management of patients infected with The virus whilst routine and elective surgeries were postponed in order to Free up hospital beds in anticipation for The influx of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospital admission. With The government announcing a national lockdown in March 2020, a striking reduction in The number of patients presenting to hospital was noted. Aim(s) Our aim was to establish how The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on The number and presentations of General Surgical patients in a University hospital. Method(s) We conducted a retrospective study on General Surgical patients who were reviewed by The Surgical team at The University teaching hospital. Data was collected over two 7-weeks periods;between The 23rd March and 10th May 2020 (The first lockdown duration in The UK) and The corresponding 7-weeks in 2019 (that is between 25th March and 12th May 2019). Result(s) The analysis of our data showed that there was a significant reduction in The number of Surgical patients being admitted. 399 patients were admitted between 25th March and 12th May 2019 compared to only 245 patients during The lockdown period. The average admissions per day over The 7-weeks period dropped from 9 admissions per day in 2019 to 5 admission per day during national lockdown. Small bowel obstruction and pancreatitis remained common diagnoses in both 7-weeks periods, however diverticulitis was less common during lockdown.