Ten-Year Trends in Otolaryngological Surgery Volumes and the Impact of Infection Prevention During the COVID-19 Pandemic—A National Study

Abstract

Background/Objectives: This register study elucidates the national trends in the otolaryngologic surgery volume in Finland over a ten-year period. In particular, we investigated whether the pandemic, which had a marked effect on communicable diseases, had an impact on infection-related ear, nose, and throat (ENT) procedures. For reference, we used noninfectious ENT procedures. Methods: The data of this study consisted of the volumes of different otolaryngological surgical procedures in Finland from 2012 to 2022. A linear regression model was applied to calculate long-term trends in surgery volumes. The annual predicted and observed surgical volumes of each procedure were compared. In addition, different procedures were compared based on whether they were mostly infection-related, non-infection-related, or both. Results: The results revealed that the pandemic altered the trends of many ENT procedures, and during the pandemic, infection-related surgeries declined more than non-infection-related surgeries did. The decline in infection-related surgery volumes seems to have lasted longer than the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic itself, as only tympanostomies and mastoidectomies of all the infection-related procedures included in this study have returned to the pre-pandemic trend. Some non-infection-related procedures and procedures with mixed indications also declined during the pandemic and sustained their reduction even in 2022. Conclusions: This study provides a nationwide insight into ENT surgery volumes in Finland over a ten-year period. Although causative reasoning cannot be conducted based on this study, it still provides a good indication of how the absence of respiratory viruses and multifactorial societal restriction measures could have a long-lasting effect on the epidemiology and management of many ENT diseases.