ThP8.1 - Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 related disruption of NHS Elective services on Emergency Major Lower Limb Amputations

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the healthcare systems worldwide since the dawn of 2020. In March 2020, the United Kingdom government announced the first national lockdown which severely disturbed all NHS healthcare elective services. Our aim is to assess the long-term impact of COVID-19 related disruption of NHS elective services on emergency major lower limb amputations. Method Patients' data for emergency major lower limb amputations (MLLA) for critical limbthreatening ischemia and diabetic foot infections performed at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary was collected through Trakcare® and divided into the control pre-pandemic group (April 2018 to March 2020) and the pandemic group (April 2020 to March 2022). The statistical analysis was conducted using the IBM SPSS software [v28.0.1.1 (14)]. Results A total of 358 patients underwent MLLA and 206 (57.5%) of these had diabetes mellitus. There was a 17% increase in the number of urgent referrals and every one in five of these finally underwent an amputation. There was an increase in the absolute number of Above- and Below-Knee amputations. There was a statistically significant increase by 33% in emergency MLLAs during the pandemic period (p-value <0.05). A total of 165 postoperative deaths up to December 2022 were recorded with 30-day mortality rate of 7.26% (n=26). Conclusion NHS vascular management groups should update themselves with evolving technologies to optimise the care provided during future unprecedented times. Furthermore, more effective measures should also be implemented to avoid delayed presentations, which can potentially lead to higher rates of major limb amputations.