System Maintenance Notice

Please note that maintenance work is scheduled between 4 AM and 5 AM - CET. During this time, you may experience reduced performance. Thanks for your patience.

Publications

Journal Article Epublish 1 citation

PubMed: 38628336 DOI: 10.1080/08998280.2024.2313341

The impact of COVID-19 on surgical cases at a large quaternary referral hospital.

Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent) 37(3):408-412

Authors: Jennifer J Misenhimer, Steven G Leeds, Rehma Shabbir, Rachel S Jefferies, Gerald O Ogola, Marc A Ward

Affiliations

  • Department of General Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
  • Center for Advanced Surgery, Baylor Scott and White Health, Dallas, Texas, USA.
  • Department of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
  • Baylor Scott and White Health Research Institute, Dallas, Texas, USA.

Abstract

Introduction

Coronavirus-19 (COVID) stressed healthcare systems by increasing hospital admissions and in-hospital mortality. The impact of COVID on surgical patients is unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the COVID pandemic affected surgical patients at a large quaternary referral hospital.

Methods

A retrospective review of patients undergoing surgical procedures was performed to evaluate patients undergoing surgery. The impact of COVID on surgical patients was divided into four timeframes based on government regulations: pre-COVID (January 1, 2020 to March 15, 2020), suspended (March 16, 2020 to May 4, 2020), backlogged cases (May 5, 2020 to June 14, 2020), and restoration (June 15, 2020 to September 30, 2020). Differences between patient characteristics and outcomes during these timeframes were evaluated.

Results

A total of 21,424 surgical cases were performed between January 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020. During the suspended timeframe (when all elective cases were cancelled), the percentage of surgeries increased in men (53.8% compared to 49.2% pre-COVID;  < 0.01), in Black and Hispanic patients (23.1% and 15.3%, respectively;  < 0.05), and in Medicaid and self-pay patients (16.3% compared to 9.9% pre-COVID;  < 0.01). All service lines experienced similar trends in overall case volume except obstetrics (constant), trauma, vascular, and thoracic (which increased during the suspended timeframe).

Conclusions

COVID-19 induced stresses in surgical patients, altering payor mix and impacting minority groups at a large quaternary referral hospital.

MeSH

Hospital Mortality, Covid-19, Pandemics