AlShehery Maied Z, Duraisamy Balaji, Zaidi Abdul Rehman Z, AlShehry Nawal F, Zaidi Fatima Z, Rababah Ahmad A, Assiri Abdulhakeem A, AlGhamdi Mubarak S, Al Mutair Abbas, Al-Omari Awad
Department of Palliative Care, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, SAU.
Internal Medicine, Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Group, Riyadh, SAU.
Cureus. 2020 Dec 9;12(12):e11996. doi: 10.7759/cureus.11996.
Introduction The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) marked the third introduction of a highly pathogenic and large-scale epidemic coronavirus into the human population in the 21st century. The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Lockdowns were imposed in multiple countries affecting patient flow in hospitals. Methods This is a retrospective study conducted at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC), a tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which examined the differences in palliative care services during the initial four months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the respective four months in 2019 (March, April, May, June). Results A total of 319 patients were seen at the palliative care department from March to June 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic (119 inpatient, 200 outpatient), compared to 346 patients seen during the corresponding months in 2019 (97 inpatient, 249 outpatient). Our main findings included more patients being discharged home, lesser transfers, shorter hospital length of stay, lesser imminent death protocols, and a higher palliative performance score (PPS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there were more cancelations by the hospital for the outpatient department, a virtual clinic was started, and 84 patients were effectively seen. Around 87% of patients were fully satisfied (5/5) with the services provided by the virtual clinic. There were no positive COVID-19 cases in our healthcare workers in the palliative care department due to the high standard precautions applied at KFMC. Family meetings as well as administrative and academic meetings have been efficiently held virtually and may possibly become the standard of practice. Conclusion Palliative care services were successfully maintained during the COVID-19 pandemic at KFMC.
引言 由严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）引起的2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫情是21世纪第三次高致病性大规模流行冠状病毒传入人类群体。2020年3月11日，世界卫生组织宣布COVID-19疫情为大流行。多个国家实施封锁，影响了医院的患者流量。方法 这是一项在沙特阿拉伯利雅得的三级护理医院法赫德国王医疗城（KFMC）进行的回顾性研究，研究了COVID-19大流行最初四个月与2019年相应的四个月（3月、4月、5月、6月）相比姑息治疗服务的差异。结果 在COVID-19大流行期间，2020年3月至6月共有319名患者在姑息治疗科就诊（119名住院患者，200名门诊患者），而2019年相应月份有346名患者就诊（97名住院患者，249名门诊患者）。我们的主要发现包括在COVID-19大流行期间更多患者出院回家、转院减少、住院时间缩短、临终协议减少以及姑息治疗表现评分（PPS）更高。尽管医院取消了更多门诊预约，但启动了虚拟诊所，并有84名患者得到有效诊治。约87%的患者对虚拟诊所提供的服务完全满意（5分制中得5分）。由于KFMC采取了高标准的预防措施，我们姑息治疗科的医护人员中没有COVID-19阳性病例。家庭会议以及行政和学术会议已有效地通过虚拟方式举行，并且可能会成为标准做法。结论 在KFMC，COVID-19大流行期间姑息治疗服务得以成功维持。
