Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on diagnosis and surgical management of common urological conditions: results from multi-institutional database analysis from the United States

Abstract

Objective To determine real life impact during the first pandemic year on diagnosis and surgical management of common urological diseases and 90-day postoperative mortality following common urological surgeries. Methods Cross-sectional study from 2016 to 2021. We used TriNetX to obtain the data. Patients with a diagnosis of six common non-oncologic and five oncologic urologic conditions were included. Twenty-four surgical interventions were also analyzed. The total number of diagnosis and surgical procedures were compared yearly from 2016 to 2021 and Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. Additionally, monthly changes were evaluated during the first pandemic year and a z score period time was reported. The 90-day post-operative mortality rates during the first pandemic year were compared to the preceding year. Results Overall, a decrease in diagnosis and surgeries were observed during the first pandemic year, with maximum drop in April 2020. Among non-oncological conditions, the decrease in diagnosis of enlarged prostate (5.3%), nephrolithiasis (9.4%), urinary incontinence (18.7%), and evaluation for male sterilization (14.8%) reached statistical significance ( P < 0.05 in all). Prostate cancer was the only cancer whose diagnosis showed statistically significant decrease (6.2%, P < 0.05). The surgical case load for benign conditions showed higher reduction (13.1–25%) than for malignant conditions (5.9–16.3%). There was no change in 90-day post-operative mortality in any of the analyzed surgeries. Conclusions Our study showed that although healthcare delivery decreased in the first pandemic year, causing a decline in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of several diseases, surgical interventions did not increase the risk of death. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00345-022-04167-0.

Impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on blood donation and transfusions in the United States in 2020

“…4 Subsequently, this recommendation along with the implementation of other mitigation measures resulted in a reduction in patients seeking routine preventive and screening measures, emergency services, surgical procedures, and other hospital-based care. [1][2][3]5,6 The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the availability of blood in the United States is unclear. In 2020, blood collection efforts were adversely impacted by the cancelation of thousands of blood drives.…”

“…The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued recommendations to delay all nonessential medical procedures 4 . Subsequently, this recommendation along with the implementation of other mitigation measures resulted in a reduction in patients seeking routine preventive and screening measures, emergency services, surgical procedures, and other hospital‐based care 1–3,5,6 …”

Impact of COVID‑19 pandemic on diagnosis and surgical management of common urological conditions: results from multi‑institutional database analysis from the United States

“…We read with great interest the recent publication by Hout Mohammad et al [ 1 ] evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis and surgical management of common urological conditions in the United States. Based on the TriNetX database, the study analyzed the urologic conditions, correlated surgical interventions, and the 90-day postoperative mortality from 2016 to 2021.…”