Maeoka Ryosuke, Nakagawa Ichiro, Saeki Keigo, Nakase Hiroyuki, Ohnishi Hideyuki
Department of Neurosurgery, Ohnishi Neurological Center, Hyogo, Japan.
Department of Neurosurgery, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan.
Front Neurol. 2022 May 13;13:865969. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.865969. eCollection 2022.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced restrictions on social activities in some areas. There has also been a decrease in the number of trauma patients in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is a traumatic disorder that often develops following head injury. We therefore investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CSDH. In this retrospective single-center descriptive study from April 2018 through September 2021, there were 5,282 head trauma patients and 196 patients with CSDH in the pre-pandemic group compared to 4,459 head trauma patients and 140 patients with CSDH in the intra-pandemic group. Significant decreases in the incidence rate (IR) of head trauma (951/100,000 vs. 795/100,000 person-years; IR ratio (IRR): 0.836, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.803-0.870, < 0.001) and also in the IR of CSDH (35.0/100,000 vs. 24.8/100,000 person-years, IRR: 0.708, 95% CI: 0.570-0.879, = 0.002) were seen in the intra-pandemic group compared to the pre-pandemic group. In this study, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with significant decreases in the IRs of head trauma and CSDH due to forced restrictions on social activities. Besides, the IR of mild cases of CSDH was significantly lower in the intra-pandemic group than in the pre-pandemic group (IRR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.51-0.89, = 0.006). Fewer people being out in communities should result in fewer chances for head trauma and CSDH. On the other hand, forced restrictions on social activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic should aggravate CSDH.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行迫使一些地区对社交活动进行限制。在COVID-19大流行期间，美国创伤患者的数量也有所减少。慢性硬膜下血肿（CSDH）是一种创伤性疾病，常发生于头部受伤后。因此，我们调查了COVID-19大流行对CSDH的影响。在这项从2018年4月至2021年9月的回顾性单中心描述性研究中，大流行前组有5282例头部创伤患者和196例CSDH患者，而大流行期间组有4459例头部创伤患者和140例CSDH患者。与大流行前组相比，大流行期间组头部创伤的发病率（IR）显著下降（951/100,000对795/100,000人年；IR比（IRR）：0.836，95%置信区间（CI）：0.803 - 0.870，<0.001），CSDH的IR也显著下降（35.0/100,000对24.8/100,000人年，IRR：0.708，95%CI：0.570 - 0.879，=0.002）。在本研究中，由于对社交活动的强制限制，COVID-19大流行与头部创伤和CSDH的IR显著下降有关。此外，大流行期间组轻度CSDH病例的IR显著低于大流行前组（IRR：0.68，95%CI：0.51 - 0.89，=0.006）。社区中外出的人减少应该会导致头部创伤和CSDH的机会减少。另一方面，由于COVID-19大流行对社交活动的强制限制应该会加重CSDH。
