The Retrospective Analysis of Interventional Procedures Performed in the Emergency Department Between 2017-2021: Türkiye Sample

Abstract

Objective: Many interventional procedures for diagnosis and treatment were being performed in the emergency departments. We examined interventional procedures, some of which we consider critical and some that we apply very frequently in emergency departments. We analyzed the correlation of interventions such as endotracheal intubation, central venous catheterization, tube thoracostomy, nasogastric tube placement, bladder catheterization, incision repairs applied in emergency departments with the admissions to the emergency departments, the quantitative changes over the years, and the effect of the pandemic process on both emergency admissions and these interventions. Methods: In this study, which was planned as a retrospective descriptive study, the data of the patients who admitted to the emergency departments of the 2nd and 3rd level public hospitals in Türkiye, between March 2017 and March 2021 have been discussed. The annual mean value of the data between the 1-year pandemic period March 11, 2020 when the pandemic started in our country until March 11, 2021, and the data between March 11, 2017 and March 11, 2020, in the pre-pandemic period, were examined and these periods were compared. The data were recorded on the spreadsheet program and their percentage changes were calculated using the statistical formulas of the spreadsheet program. Results: Between 2017 and 2020, there was a continuous increase in the emergency service examinations of 2nd and 3rd level public hospitals, and the number of examinations decreased to 93.5 million patients with the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of endotracheal intubations increased by 11.6% during the pandemic period. The number of central venous catheters applied during the pandemic period decreased by 16.2% compared with the 3-year average before the pandemic. Tube thoracostomy decreased by 0.13%, bladder catheter application by 3.2%, nasogastric tube application and incision repair decreased by 26.6% during the pandemic period. Conclusion: In the first 1-year period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the average emergency service applications, incision repair, nasogastric tube application, bladder catheterization, tube thoracostomy and central venous catheterization applications decreased during the pandemic period compared to the 3-year period before the pandemic.