IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON PAEDIATRIC SURGERY SERVICES IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

COVID-19 ON PAEDIATRIC SURGERY SERVICES

Abstract

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic affected the delivery of healthcare services globally. There was reallocation of resources to combat the disease. In response, healthcare facilities adopted policies and protocols to reduce the risk of transmission that disrupted surgical services. While children appeared to be less affected by the virus, the pandemic restrictions affected access to paediatric surgical care. This study aims to review the impact of the pandemic on paediatric surgical services in our centre.

Methodology: This a retrospective comparison of surgeries carried out before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The time windows are April–June 2019, pre-COVID era A (PCE-A), October–December 2019, pre-COVID era B (PCE-B), April–June 2020 during the pandemic lockdown, COVID era A (CE-A), and October–December 2020 after the lockdown, COVID era B (CE-B). The volume of elective and emergency procedures across different surgical categories was compared and further analysis of emergency procedures in CE-A was done. Descriptive analysis of the data was done using SPSS version 25.0 for windows.

Results: The least number of surgeries (10 cases) were done in June 2020 and the most (59 cases) done in December 2019. Only one elective surgery was done in CE-A. The volume of elective and emergency surgeries during PCE-B exceeded CE-B by 46.9% and 31.3%, respectively, and markedly affected urologic surgeries. The number of emergency procedures during the four periods were comparable however, the emergency patients in CE-A presented later and with more complications.

Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has significant impact on paediatric surgical patients who did not have the infection. The restrictions instituted during the pandemic further reduced low surgical volumes which translate to reduced access to surgical care for patients and practical experience for trainees. Innovative modifications of restrictive policies are required to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and address the backlog of unmet surgical needs.