Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32702490›Full record

ArticleWorld neurosurgery2020

Neurosurgical Procedures and Safety During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case-Control Multicenter Study.

Khalid Bajunaid, Ashwag Alqurashi, Abdullah Alatar, Mohammad Alkutbi, Anas H Alzahrani, Abdulrahman J Sabbagh, Abdullah Alobaid, Abdulwahed Barnawi, Ahmed Abdulrahman Alferayan, Ahmed M Alkhani and 25 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in World neurosurgery, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
29citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

35 authors.

Khalid BajunaidDepartment of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute and hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Ashwag AlqurashiNeurosurgery Division, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah AlatarNeurosurgery Division, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mohammad AlkutbiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Anas H AlzahraniDepartment of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Abdulrahman J SabbaghDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah AlobaidDepartment of Adult Neurosurgery, National Neuroscience Institute, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abdulwahed BarnawiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed Abdulrahman AlferayanDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Specialized Medical Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed M AlkhaniDivision of Neurosurgery, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ali Bin SalamahDepartment of Neurosurgery, King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Bassem Yousef SheikhVascular Endovascular and Skull Base Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Fahad E AlotaibiDepartment of Pediatric Neurosurgery, National Neuroscience institute, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Faisal AlabbasDepartment of Neurosurgery, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Faisal FarrashDepartment of Neuroscience, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Hosam M Al-JehaniDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute and hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Neurosurgery, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Husam AlhabibDepartment of Spine Surgery, Dr Sulaiman Alhabib Hospital, Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
Ibrahim AlnaamiDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Ikhlass AltweijriDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Isam KhojaDepartment of Neurosurgery, International Medical Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Mahmoud TahaDepartment of Neurosurgery, King Fahad specialist Hospital, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Moajeb AlzahraniDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed S BafaquhDepartment of Adult Neurosurgery, National Neuroscience Institute, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed BinmahfoodhNeurosciences Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Mubarak Ali AlgahtanyDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Sabah Al-RashedDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Syed Muhammad RazaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sherif ElwatidyNeurosurgery Division, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Soha A AlomarDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Wisam Al-IssawiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Yahya H KhormiDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
Ahmad AmmarDepartment of Neurosurgery, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Amro Al-HabibNeurosurgery Division, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Saleh S BaeesaDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Abdulrazag AjlanNeurosurgery Division, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: abdajlan@ksu.edu.sa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveQuantitative documentation of the effects of outbreaks, including the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, is limited in neurosurgery. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on neurosurgical practice and to determine whether surgical procedures are associated with increased morbidity and mortality.

methodsA multicenter case-control study was conducted, involving patients who underwent neurosurgical intervention in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during 2 periods: pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The surgical intervention data evaluated included diagnostic category, case priority, complications, length of hospital stay, and 30-day mortality.

resultsA total of 850 procedures were included, 36% during COVID-19. The median number of procedures per day was significantly lower during the COVID-19 period (5.5 cases) than during the pre-COVID-19 period (12 cases; P < 0.0001). Complications, length of hospital stay, and 30-day mortality did not differ during the pandemic. In a multivariate analysis comparing both periods, case priority levels 1 (immediate) (odds ratio [OR], 1.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24-2.67), 1 (1-24 h) (OR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.10-2.41), and 4 (OR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.19-0.42) showed significant differences.

conclusionsDuring the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the overall number of neurosurgical procedures declined, but the load of emergency procedures remained the same, thus highlighting the need to allocate sufficient resources for emergencies. More importantly, performing neurosurgical procedures during the pandemic in regions with limited effects of the outbreak on the health care system was safe. Our findings may aid in developing guidelines for acute and long-term care during pandemics in surgical subspecialties.

Indexed as

NeurosurgeryNeurosurgical ProceduresAdolescentAdultAgedCase-Control StudiesCOVID-19FemaleHumansLength of StayMaleMiddle AgedSARS-CoV-2Young AdultCOVID-19NeurosurgeryPandemicSurgical outcomeTriage

Identifiers

PMID32702490
PMCPMC7370909

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.