An Australian Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Implications on the Practice of Neurosurgery.
World Neurosurg
; 139: e864-e871, 2020 07.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-369750
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
This study was designed to assess the impact of public health policy in Australia in response to the coronavirus disease identified in 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the delivery of neurosurgical services. Being essential services, we postulated that there would not be a decrease in elective and emergency neurosurgical presentations and surgeries.METHODS:
This is a prospective, observational, epidemiologic study in strict adherence to the "STROBE" (Strengthening The Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology) guidelines. It is a cross-sectional, multicentric study involving 5 tertiary neurosurgical centers to capture all public neurosurgical admissions in Queensland during the past 3 months (February-April, 2020) of significant public health policy changes to combat COVID-19.RESULTS:
An analysis of the 1298 admissions for the Queensland population of 5.07 million Australians demonstrated a decrease in the number of elective and emergency admissions. The decline in elective admissions, particularly degenerative spine, benign neoplasms, and vascular pathologies, was a direct response of government strategy to curb activity to urgent surgical interventions only. Moreover, a trend toward fewer emergency admissions was also noted, partly explained by less trauma and also a decline in vascular pathologies including subarachnoid hemorrhage.CONCLUSIONS:
In comparison with Europe and North America, this study demonstrates the impact of proactive public health measures in Australia that successfully flattened the COVID-19 curve while facilitating ongoing care of acutely unwell neurosurgical patients.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Neurosurgical Procedures
/
Pandemics
/
Betacoronavirus
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
English
Journal:
World Neurosurg
Journal subject:
Neurosurgery
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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