Association Between the SARS-Cov2 Pandemic and Pediatric Surgical Consultations.
Publication/Presentation Date
11-1-2022
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes to acute pediatric surgical needs during the early phase of the SARS-Cov2 (COVID-19) pandemic.
METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of all in-hospital pediatric surgery consultations placed through the consult paging system at a single institution. We compared both median and absolute differences for emergency department (ED), operative, and hospital outcomes between March, April, and May of 2019 versus 2020.
RESULTS: There were 225 in-hospital pediatric surgery consults in 2019 and 123 in 2020. Overall, mean age was 8.4-y (standard deviation = 6.4) and 60% were male. Initial vitals were similar between years and a similar proportion of patients underwent laboratory and imaging tests. In 2020, children spent a median of 1.1-h fewer in the ED (95% confidence interval = -2.2, -0.1) and 0.9-h fewer in the ED before surgical consultation (95% confidence interval = -1.5, -0.3) compared to 2019. Patients required significantly more procedures in the ED in 2020 (n = 16, 14.3%) than 2019 (n = 13, 6.2%) (P = 0.02), most commonly laceration repairs. In 2019, 46 children (20.4% of all consults in 2019) presented with appendicitis and 27 children (22.0% of all consults in 2020) in 2020. Complicated appendicitis was more common in 2020 (n = 12, 44.4%) than 2019 (n = 9, 19.6%) (P = 0.02). Two children (7.4%) were managed nonoperatively with a drain in 2020 compared to none in 2019 (P = 0.13). Median time from surgical consultation to surgery, median operative time, and median time to discharge was similar for children with appendicitis in both years.
CONCLUSIONS: The early phase of the pandemic was associated with more efficient triaging in the ED, but more ED procedures and more complex surgical pathology.
Volume
279
First Page
299
Last Page
303
ISSN
1095-8673
Published In/Presented At
Sullivan, J. E., Grant, H., Pérez Coulter, A. M., & Tirabassi, M. V. (2022). Association Between the SARS-Cov2 Pandemic and Pediatric Surgical Consultations. The Journal of surgical research, 279, 299–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2022.06.019
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
35802945
Department(s)
Department of Surgery
Document Type
Article