Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management and outcomes of emergency surgical patients: A retrospective cohort study

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has led to drastic measures being implemented for the management of surgical patients across all health services worldwide, including the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It is suspected that the virus has had a detrimental effect on perioperative morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these outcomes in emergency general surgical patients. Methods Emergency general surgical admissions were included in this retrospective cohort study in one of the COVID-19 hotspots in the South East of England. The primary outcome was the 30-day mortality rate. Secondary outcomes included the length of stay in hospital, complication rate and severity grade and admission rates to the ITU. Results Of 123 patients, COVID-19 was detected in 12.2%. Testing was not carried out in 26%. When comparing COVID-positive to COVID-negative patients, the mean age was 71.8 + 8.8 vs. 50.7 + 5.7, respectively, and female patients accounted for 40.0 vs. 52.6%. The 30-day mortality rate was 26.7 vs. 3.9 (OR 6.49, p  = 0.02), respectively. The length of stay in hospital was 20.5 + 22.2 vs. 7.7 + 9.8 ( p  < 0.01), the rate of complications was 80.0 vs. 23.7 (OR 12.9, p  < 0.01), and the rate of admission to the ITU was 33.3 vs. 7.9% (OR 5.83, p  = 0.01). Conclusion This study demonstrates the detrimental effect of COVID-19 on emergency general surgery, with significantly worsened surgical outcomes.