ArticleBMC surgery2020
The COVID-19 pandemic: impact on surgical departments of non-university hospitals.
Article in BMC surgery, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed.
- Knee Surgery during the COVID-19 Lockdown-Experiences of a Level-One Trauma Center in Germany.BioMed research international · 2021Trial
- Modeling Health Effects of Alternative Treatment Options during Surgical Delay to Inform Prioritization of Surgical Care.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2026Article
- Changes in oncological surgical volume and postoperative survival during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective multicenter study in a regional German hospital network.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Spinal Surgery in National Emergencies: Lessons from a Pandemic Era of Postponed and Ultimately Cancelled Operations.Indian journal of orthopaedics · 2025Article
- Enhancing the Understanding of Abdominal Trauma During the COVID-19 Pandemic Through Co-Occurrence Analysis and Machine Learning.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on neurosurgery in the elderly population in Sweden.BMC public health · 2024Observational
- Assessing the impact of vaccination and medical resource allocation on infectious disease outbreak management: a case study of COVID-19 in Taiyuan City.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on oncological care in Germany: rapid review.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2023Review
- Article
- The outcomes of same-day discharge following holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) surgeries: our experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.World journal of urology · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
- Postoperative nosocomial COVID-19 infection in surgical patients during pandemic: A prospective observational cohort study.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2022Article
- One year of COVID-19 pandemic: Health care workers' infection rates and economical burden in medical facilities for oral and maxillofacial surgery.Journal of cranio-maxillo-facial surgery : official publication of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery · 2022Article
- Safety of Three-Dimensional versus Two-Dimensional Laparoscopic Hysterectomy during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- A country-level analysis comparing hospital capacity and utilisation during the first COVID-19 wave across Europe.Health policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2022Article
- A combination of two regional flaps for the complex reconstruction after head and neck cancer surgery as an alternative approach during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case report.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2022Article
- A survey among physicians in surgery and anesthesiology departments after the first surge of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Germany : Preparing for further challenges ahead.Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2022Review
- Moral Distress Among Operating Room Personnel During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.The Journal of surgical research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDuring the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, German health care centres were restructured for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. This was accompanied by the suspension of the surgical programme. The aim of the survey was to determine the effects of COVID-19 on surgical care in non-university hospitals in Germany.
methodsThis cross-sectional study was based on an anonymous online survey, which was accessible from April 24th to May 10th, 2020 for surgeons of the Konvent der leitenden Krankenhauschirurgen (Convention of leading Hospital Surgeons) in Germany. The analysis comprised of 22.8% (n = 148/649) completed surveys.
resultsCommunication and cooperation with authorities, hospital administration and other departments were largely considered sufficient. In the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, 28.4% (n = 42/148) of the respondents complained about a short supply of protective equipment available for the hospital staff. 7.4% (n = 11/148) of the participants stated that emergency operations had to be postponed or rescheduled. A decreased quantity of emergency surgical procedures and a decreased number of surgical emergency patients treated in the emergency room was reported in 43.9% (n = 65/148) and 63.5% (n = 94/148), respectively. Consultation and treatment of oncological patients in the outpatient clinic was decreased in 54.1% (n = 80/148) of the surveyed hospitals. To increase the capacity for COVID-19 patients, a reduction of bed and operating room occupancy of 50.8 ± 19.3% and 54.2 ± 19.1% were reported, respectively. Therefore, 90.5% (n = 134/148) of all participants expected a loss of revenue of 28.2 ± 12.9% in 2020.
conclusionThe first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on surgical care in Germany. The reduction in the bed and the operating room capacity may have lead to considerable delays in urgent and semi-elective surgical interventions. In addition to the risk of worsening patient care, we anticipate severe financial damage to the clinics in 2020 and beyond. National and supranational planning is urgently needed to ensure the surgical care of patients during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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