Naslov
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most common diagnoses in pediatric surgery - the experience of a tertiary center from Croatia

Autori
Bašković, Marko ; Čizmić, Ante ; Bastić, Mislav ; Župančić, Božidar

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
7th World Congress of Pediatric Surgery

Mjesto i datum
Prag, Češka Republika, 12-15.10.2022

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
pandemic ; COVID-19 ; pediatric surgery ; Croatia

Sažetak
Aim: In our study, we were interested in whether the pandemic has caused a statistically significant decrease in the number of examinations of children in the emergency department according to the most common diagnoses in pediatric surgery and whether there was a decrease in the number of emergency surgeries. Methods: The analysis included 15 months of the pre-coronavirus disease- 19 period and 15 months of the coronavirus disease-19 period. The primary outcome of the study was to determine the cumulative number of all examinations and then to determine the number of examinations according to the most common diagnoses and, consequently, to determine whether there was a statistically significant decrease. The secondary outcome was to determine the cumulative number of all operations and then to determine the number of the most common emergency operations and, consequently, to see if there was a statistically significant decrease. Results: In the 15 months of the pre- coronavirus disease-19 period, a total of 33 646 children were examined in the emergency department, while in the coronavirus disease-19 period, 26 831 were examined (p=0.010). Although a decrease was recorded in all categories, a statistically significant decrease was recorded for diagnoses of abdominal pain (p=0.007) and lower extremity injuries (p=0.014). The total number of operations, due to strict measures and reduction of the elective program, decreased statistically significantly in the coronavirus disease-19 period (p<0.0001). The number of most common emergency operations did not decrease statistically significantly. Conclusion: This study represents the first longer, 15-month experience of a pandemic in the only and largest children's hospital in Croatia. There is no doubt that coronavirus disease-19 had the effect of reducing the number of examinations in the emergency department for all the most common diagnoses, but the number of operations did not change significantly.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Kliničke medicinske znanosti, Javno zdravstvo i zdravstvena zaštita

POVEZANOST RADA