Department of Surgical Oncology, Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium.
Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Acta Chir Belg. 2022 Aug;122(4):233-239. doi: 10.1080/00015458.2021.1894735. Epub 2021 Jun 17.
Belgium was one of the first European countries affected by the first wave of the Covid-19 epidemic after Italy and France and has the highest rate of Covid-19-related deaths. Very few studies have evaluated the impact of the pandemic on surgical activity on a large scale. The primary objective of this national survey was to evaluate the impact of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic on surgical activities (elective non-oncological and oncological) in Belgian hospitals.
A nationwide, multicenter survey was conducted in Belgium by the Royal Belgian Surgical Society (RBSS) board. The questionnaire focused on digestive surgical activity at different time points: period 1 (P1), before the epidemic; period 2 (P2), lockdown; and period 3 (P3), after stabilization of the epidemic.
The participation rate in the survey was 28.2% (24 out of 85 solicited hospitals), including 15 (62.5%) from the French speaking part of Belgium and 9 (37.5%) from the Flemish speaking part. Eighteen (75%) were non-academic and 6 (25%) were academic hospitals. All surgical activities were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic except for the number of cholecystectomies. No statistical differences were observed between regions or according to the type of hospital.
Our national survey confirms that the COVID-19 outbreak has severely impacted in-person consultations and surgical activity for benign and malignant disease and for acute appendicitis. However, procedures for benign disease were much more affected than those for malignancies.
比利时是继意大利和法国之后首批受到新冠疫情第一波冲击的欧洲国家之一，其新冠相关死亡人数也位居欧洲前列。很少有研究大规模评估疫情对手术活动的影响。本次全国性调查的主要目的是评估新冠疫情第一波对比利时医院外科手术（非肿瘤性和肿瘤性择期手术）活动的影响。
由比利时皇家外科学会（RBSS）理事会在比利时进行了一项全国性多中心调查。调查问卷重点关注不同时间点的消化道外科手术活动：第 1 时期（P1），疫情前；第 2 时期（P2），封锁期；第 3 时期（P3），疫情稳定后。
该调查的参与率为 28.2%（24 家受邀医院中的 24 家），包括 15 家（62.5%）来自比利时法语区，9 家（37.5%）来自佛兰德语区。18 家（75%）为非学术医院，6 家（25%）为学术医院。除胆囊切除术数量外，所有外科手术活动均受到新冠疫情的影响。在地区或根据医院类型方面未观察到统计学差异。
我们的全国性调查证实，新冠疫情爆发严重影响了良性和恶性疾病以及急性阑尾炎的门诊咨询和外科手术活动。然而，良性疾病的手术比恶性疾病的手术受影响更大。
