BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected healthcare systems worldwide. The effect of the pandemic on emergency general surgery patients remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: To reveal the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality and morbidity among emergency general surgery cases. DESIGN AND SETTING: Data on patients who were admitted to the emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Samsun, Turkey, and had consultations at the general surgery clinic were analyzed retrospectively. METHODS: Our study included comparative analysis on two groups of patients who received emergency general surgery consultations in our hospital: during the COVID-19 pandemic period (Group 2); and on the same dates one year previously (Group 1). RESULTS: There were 195 patients in Group 1 and 132 in Group 2 (P < 0.001). While 113 (58%) of the patients in Group 1 were women, only 58 (44%) were women in Group 2 (P = 0.013). Considering all types of diagnosis, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.261). The rates of abscess and delayed abdominal emergency diseases were higher in Group 2: one case (0.5%) versus ten cases (8%); P < 0.001. The morbidity rate was higher in Group 2 than in Group 1: three cases (1.5%) versus nine cases (7%); P = 0.016. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has decreased the number of unnecessary nonemergency admissions to the emergency department, but has not delayed patients' urgent consultations. The pandemic has led surgeons to deal with more complicated cases and greater numbers of complications.

Following the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, surgical associations have issued their different recommendations for managing the acute cholecystitis (AC) clinic during the pandemic. We aimed to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic period on our clinical approach in patients who presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain and were diagnosed with AC. Medical records of patients diagnosed with AC in the emergency room between 11 March 2020 and 10 March 2021 and in the same period of one year before the pandemic were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 groups as COVID-19 period (Group 1) and non-COVID period (Group 2). Demographics and clinical characteristics, treatment modalities, and outcomes of these two groups were compared. The number of patients diagnosed with AC in the emergency department decreased during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. When the time between the onset of the complaints and the admission to the emergency service was evaluated, no statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p>0.05). The distribution of cholecystitis type and TG18 severity grading for AC were similar in both groups (p>0.05). While percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) is more preferred in the treatment of AC during the pandemic period and the number of delayed interval laparoscopic cholecystectomy decreased, AC management was similar in both periods with no significant statistical difference (P>0.05). In conclusion, our clinical approach and management in the treatment of AC did not differ when compared to the pre-pandemic period.

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