J Korean Neurosurg Soc.  2020 Jul;63(4):407-414. 10.3340/jkns.2020.0114.

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak and Its Impact on Spinal Daily Practice : Preliminary Report from a Single (Regional) University Hospital in Republic of Korea

• Ham CH
• Moon HJ
• Kim JH
• Park YK
• Lee TH
• Kwon WK

• KMID: 2504634
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3340/jkns.2020.0114

Abstract

Objective
: Since the first discovery of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), rapid and wide spread of the disease has been reported and the World Health Organization announced that a ‘pandemic’ has started. Up to date there is little known regarding the impact of this outbreak on spinal specialists’ daily clinical practice. We intended to evaluate how COVID-19 has affected the number of spinal disease patients we meet and operate in daily practice.
Methods
: The de-identified data regarding number of patients visiting the spine clinic at a tertiary referral hospital and a secondary level hospital from January, February and March of 2017 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The number of out-patient department (OPD) visits, number of emergency room (ER) visits as well as number of surgeries performed during the reviewed period were collected and analyzed, comparing 2020 to the previous 3 years.
Results
: The number of daily OPD visits showed a steady decrease starting from January, and presented a statistically significant decrease by early March 2020, compared to the previous 3 years. During the same period, decrease in number of daily ER visits was statistically significant as well. The number of elective surgeries or number of surgeries for patients admitted via ER during COVID-19 outbreak remained similar to that of 2017–2019 suggesting, despite the decrease of patients visiting the hospital for spinal diseases, those whom required surgery still visited the hospital. The results were consistant among other hospital level.
Conclusion
: The outbreak of COVID-19 affected our daily practice as OPD and ER visits reduced but did not affect the number of surgeries. We believe that this report will be informative to spinal specialists worldwide fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keyword

COVID-19; Coronavirus; Spine; Spinal practice

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Graphs showing the number of OPD visits to the spine center of a tertiary referral center in Republic of Korea during January to March of 2017–2020. A : Number of weekly OPD patients during the reviewed period. B : Comparison of average OPD visits per day during 2017 to 2020 by month. *Timepoint of COVID-19 alert level raised to highest, ‘RED’, by the Korean government. †Timepoint of COVID-19 confirmed as pandemic by WHO. ‡p<0.05. OPD : out-patient department, COVID-19 : 2019 novel coronavirus, WHO : World Health Organization.

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  Fig. 2. Graphs showing the number of ER visits to the spine center of a tertiary referral center in Republic of Korea during January to March of 2017–2020. A : Number of weekly ER patients during the reviewed period. B : Number of monthly ER visits; the number of admissions and emergent surgeries among the ER visits are compared between each year. *Timepoint of COVID-19 alert level raised to highest, ‘RED’, by the Korean government. †Timepoint of COVID-19 confirmed as pandemic by WHO. ‡Total number of patients ER patients in 2020 was statistically decreased compared to 2017 and 2018 (p<0.05), and showed decreased trend compared to 2019 (p=0.07). ER : emergency, room, OP : operation, COVID-19 : 2019 novel coronavirus, WHO : World Health Organization.

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  Fig. 3. Graphs showing the number of spine surgeries at a spine center of a tertiary referral center in Republic of Korea during January to March of 2017–2020. A : Number of weekly surgeries by week during the reviewed period. B : Number of monthly surgeries and the proportion of disease entities during the reviewed period. *Timepoint of COVID-19 alert level raised to highest, ‘RED’, by the Korean government. †Timepoint of COVID-19 confirmed as pandemic by WHO. COVID-19 : 2019 novel coronavirus, WHO : World Health Organization.

Reference

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