Emergency Surgery in a Large Urban Area Community Hospital During SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An Analysis on Acute Appendicitis

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Background: The literature highlights a decrease in surgical treated appendicitis with an increased severity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of COVID lockdown on the population with appendicitis comparing clinical-pathologic data and outcome in two matching period (prepandemic and pandemic era). Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients admitted to two community urban hospital in Rome with diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) before and after the COVID-19 pandemic was performed. We compared patients patients with acute appendicitis in three groups named A (pre-COVID), B (early pandemic), and C (late pandemic). We evaluate the differences between the three groups in terms of onset of symptoms and severity, procedure difficulty, conversion rate, and short-term outcome. Results: A total of 310 patients were identified. The time interval from onset of symptoms to arrival in the emergency department was significantly longer in both pandemic group; there was also a significantly longer time to surgery comparing to group A. The risk of complicated AA was higher in both pandemic groups. A significantly higher grade of difficulty was detected in both COVID-groups. However, no differences were observed in conversion rate. Postoperative complications rate showed no significant difference among all three groups. No patients was tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 postoperatively. Conclusion: AA treatment was comparable to pre-COVID period in-hospital presurgery stay and early postoperative outcome. With an accurate respect of pandemic protocol is possible to maintain a high and safe standard of care for patients with acute appendicitis.