Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on general surgical practice – An observational cross-sectional study

Introduction: The study aimed to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical practice in a tertiary care setup in India and the future implications of the pandemic. Methodology: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary-care hospital. The case series consisted of a snapshot search of all operating theatre activity at AIIMS, Rishikesh between the 1st of March 2020, and 31st August 2020. Observations: A total of 790 patients were operated on in the first 6 months of the covid era while 5308 patients had undergone surgery in the 6 months preceding the onset of covid-19. In the precovid era, 73.71% of the cases were performed under General Anaesthesia while 62.6% of the cases were performed under general anaesthesia in the covid era. 18.83% of the cases in precovid era were performed under spinal anaesthesia and 3.5% under combined spinal and epidural anaesthesia in the precovid era. Conclusion: This study has shown the extent to which general surgical practice was affected during the covid pandemic. With the lessons learnt during this period, we can implement a more robust plan in the eventuality of another pandemic and be more thoroughly prepared the next time around.