The recovery of endoscopic activity and cancer detection after the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on cancer services. The aim of our study was to evaluate the recovery of endoscopic activity and cancer detection after the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

Endoscopic data from January 2019 to December 2020 were retrospectively collected to assess the endoscopic activity and cancer detection during the COVID-19 peak period (February 2020) and the post-COVID-19 peak period (March to July 2020).

RESULTS

The COVID-19 pandemic almost brought endoscopic activity and cancer detection to a standstill. Diagnostic procedure and endoscopic resection showed the greatest reduction. With the decline in COVID-19 infections, endoscopic activity gradually returned to previous level in July. However, the detection rate of gastric cancer resumed in September, whereas colorectal cancer resumed in August. The monthly detection rates of gastric and colorectal cancers decreased from their initial peaks of 2.98 % and 6.45 %, respectively, and finally were even lower than the average in 2019. Similarly, the mean age of patients who received endoscopy also declined as the detection rates resumed. The increasing colonoscopies allowed the missing colorectal cancer patients to be caught up. In contrast, it was expected that 6.69 % of gastric cancer patients were missed and did not receive needed endoscopy.

CONCLUSIONS

The recovery of cancer detection occurred later than that of endoscopic activity, especially for gastric cancer. Older people were vulnerable to the continuous impact of COVID-19 pandemic than young people for seeking medical services. Urgent efforts are required to recover and maintain cancer services before subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.