Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Front Public Health. 2021 Aug 2;9:625582. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.625582. eCollection 2021.
Innsbruck Medical University Hospital, Austria, provides the highest level of care for a region of approximately 1.8 million people. During the early COVID-19 outbreak in spring 2020 surgical activity was drastically reduced with the prime goal of preserving hospital capacities, especially intensive care beds. We conducted a retrospective analysis of surgical activities performed at Innsbruck Medical University Hospital during the lockdown period from March 15 to April 14, 2020 and compared these activities to the same period during the previous 5 years. Total surgical activity was reduced by 65.4% compared to the same period during the previous 5 years ( < 0.001); elective surgeries were reduced by 88.7%, acute surgeries by 35.3% and oncological surgeries by 47.8% compared to the previous 5 years (all < 0.001). This dramatic decrease in acute and oncological surgeries can most likely be ascribed to the fact that many patients avoided health care facilities because of the strict policy and/or the fear of contracting SARS-CoV-2 in the hospital. In view of future waves, the population should be encouraged to seek medical help for acute symptoms and to attend cancer screening programs.
奥地利因斯布鲁克医科大学医院为大约 180 万人的地区提供最高水平的护理。在 2020 年春季 COVID-19 早期爆发期间，手术活动大幅减少，主要目标是保留医院容量，特别是重症监护床位。我们对因斯布鲁克医科大学医院在 2020 年 3 月 15 日至 4 月 14 日封锁期间进行的手术活动进行了回顾性分析，并将这些活动与前 5 年同期进行了比较。与前 5 年同期相比，总手术量减少了 65.4%（<0.001）；择期手术减少了 88.7%，急症手术减少了 35.3%，肿瘤手术减少了 47.8%（均<0.001）。与前 5 年相比，急症和肿瘤手术的这种急剧减少很可能归因于以下事实：由于严格的政策和/或担心在医院感染 SARS-CoV-2，许多患者避免了医疗保健设施。为了应对未来的浪潮，应鼓励民众在出现急性症状时寻求医疗帮助，并参加癌症筛查计划。
