Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on acute gallbladder disease in the emergency department

Abstract

Objective Acute gallbladder disease (AGD) is frequent in the emergency department (ED) and usually requires emergency surgery. However, only a few studies have reported the impact of COVID-19 on AGD. The goal of this study was to evaluate the time between symptom onset and surgery and the perioperative severity of AGD during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the era of COVID-19. Methods This retrospective, single-center cohort study included patients who presented to the ED with suspected AGD and who underwent emergency cholecystectomy. We designed a beforeafter comparative study, and the intervention was the COVID-19 outbreak. The 6-month period after the COVID-19 outbreak was defined as the post-COVID group, whereas the pre-COVID group consisted of the same period in the previous year. The primary outcome was the time from symptoms to surgery. We evaluated the time intervals between symptom onset and ED arrival and between ED arrival and surgery. The secondary outcomes were preoperative and postoperative severity indexes.Results A total of 316 patients was analyzed. The post-COVID group showed longer duration from symptom onset to ED arrival (34.0 hours vs. 15.0 hours, P < 0.001) and longer time interval from ED arrival to surgery (16.2 hours vs. 10.2 hours, P < 0.001) than the pre-COVID group. The overall time interval between symptom onset to surgery was longer in the post-COVID group than the pre-COVID group (71.5 hours vs. 33.5 hours, P < 0.001). The post-COVID group showed higher preoperative Simplified Acute Physiology Score II scores than the pre-COVID group (20.1 vs. 18.2, P = 0.045). The proportion of moderate or severe disease increased in the post-COVID group (78% vs. 65%, P = 0.017). The durations of hospital stay (7.0 days vs. 5.0 days, P < 0.001) and intensive care unit stay (27.1 hours vs. 10.8 hours, P = 0.008) were longer in the post-COVID group than in the pre-COVID group. ConclusionDuring the pandemic, the time interval between symptom onset to surgery was significantly increased among patients with AGD. Concomitantly, higher preoperative severity indexes and longer hospital stay were reported with a delay in emergency surgery.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on interhospital transfer of patients with major trauma in Korea: a retrospective cohort study

“…Delays may occur on the first responder dispatch, prehospital triage, selecting and moving to the initial facility, practice in the primary facility, and time spent on IHT. Some previous studies focused on adding extra time owing to several factors, including a shortage of prehospital or inhospital resources and performing and receiving the results of the COVID-19 testing during the pandemic [ 23 ]. Additional delays may occur during preparing an appropriate transport for IHT.…”

Abdominal compartment syndrome caused by severe acute gastric distension in a patient with COVID-19: A case report

“…Due to higher demand and shortage of resources, longer ED stays in the institution for surgical patients were reported during that period. [ 22 ] Notably, the patient was included for candidate of surgical decompression with the high IAP. Accordingly, the result may be concluded unfavorable, in case of non-surgical method of decompression were inadequate.…”

Management of gallstone disease and chronic liver diseases during the COVID-19 outbreak in Ukraine: an ecological study

“…Patel et al (2022) in a retrospective cohort study of adult patients presented to the emergency department with symptoms related to gallstone disease during the pandemic concluded that older patients with higher comorbidity presented with acute gallstone disease. Sakong et al (2023) in a retrospective cohort study, which included patients who underwent emergency cholecystectomies during the COVID-19 outbreak, concluded, that the time interval between symptom onset to surgery significantly increased among patients with acute gallbladder disease. Concomitantly, higher preoperative severity indexes and longer hospital stays were reported with a delay in emergency surgery.…”