The dramatic COVID 19 outbreak in Italy is responsible of a huge drop of urological surgical activity: a multicenter observational study.
BJU Int
; 127(1): 56-63, 2021 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32558053
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To describe the trend in surgical volume in urology in Italy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, as a result of the abrupt reorganisation of the Italian national health system to augment care provision to symptomatic patients with COVID-19.METHODS:
A total of 33 urological units with physicians affiliated to the AGILE consortium (Italian Group for Advanced Laparo-Endoscopic Surgery; www.agilegroup.it) were surveyed. Urologists were asked to report the amount of surgical elective procedures week-by-week, from the beginning of the emergency to the following month.RESULTS:
The 33 hospitals involved in the study account overall for 22 945 beds and are distributed in 13/20 Italian regions. Before the outbreak, the involved urology units performed overall 1213 procedures/week, half of which were oncological. A month later, the number of surgeries had declined by 78%. Lombardy, the first region with positive COVID-19 cases, experienced a 94% reduction. The decrease in oncological and non-oncological surgical activity was 35.9% and 89%, respectively. The trend of the decline showed a delay of roughly 2 weeks for the other regions.CONCLUSION:
Italy, a country with a high fatality rate from COVID-19, experienced a sudden decline in surgical activity. This decline was inversely related to the increase in COVID-19 care, with potential harm particularly in the oncological field. The Italian experience may be helpful for future surgical pre-planning in other countries not so drastically affected by the disease to date.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Procedimentos Cirúrgicos Urológicos
/
Doenças Urológicas
/
Pandemias
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Observational_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article