Impact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on emergency surgical services at Groote Schuur Hospital.

Background: The impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on emergency surgery services internationally revealed an 87.8% decrease in procedures. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of the pandemic on the number of emergency surgical operations performed at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.

Methods: The study was a retrospective cross-sectional study, comparing the number of emergency operations performed before the pandemic to those performed during the pandemic lockdowns at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. The data were retrieved from the Web Surgibank and Clinicom databases.

Results: The total number of operations performed during the study period (April 2019 - March 2021) was 13 715. The most frequently performed procedure types were orthopaedics (18.6%), hands (16.3%), acute care surgery (16.5%), neurosurgery (10.5%) and trauma (10.1%). There was a 19.5% reduction which was statistically significant (p = 0.002) in the number of surgeries before COVID-19 and during COVID-19. The mean number of operations during the pandemic was less compared to the pre-COVID-19 period (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: COVID-19 significantly impacted the number of operations performed during the pandemic at Groote Schuur Hospital. This overall reduction was less compared to international centres.