Impact of COVID-19 on Elective Surgical Lists in Otorhinolaryngology: An Overview

• Main Authors: Memon Afzal, Tabassum Aziz, Nausheen Qureshi, Sundas Masood, Fatima Shahid, Asmara Hussain
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rawalpindi Medical University 2021-03-01
• Series: Journal of Rawalpindi Medical College
• Subjects: COVID-19, SARS COV-2, Elective surgical lists, ENT Head & Neck Surgery, Holy Family Hospital.
• Online Access: https://www.journalrmc.com/index.php/JRMC/article/view/1513

Objective: To study how the COVID-19 is affecting the treatment and management of other ailments. Try to find a strategy to resume elective OR lists. Introduction: We overviewed the effect of COVID-19 on the elective surgical lists of otorhinolaryngology in the ENT Department of Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. Materials and Methods: The data from Jan 2020 to July 2020 was collected. It is a descriptive study analyzing the data, 3 months before and 3 months after the imposition of lockdown in the whole of Pakistan due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. The data was collected from the operation dating register of OPD and elective operative lists of ENT OT. Data were analyzed by Microsoft excel spreadsheet version 7. Results: There was an overall 92% decrease in the elective surgical procedures done in the ENT dept. of Holy family Hospital during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The procedures done in the COVID lockdown period were mostly emergency procedures and lifesaving procedures. Conclusion: COVID-19 has badly impacted the elective surgical procedures and in turn the health of the patients presenting to ENT OPD with various diseases which were treated surgically before COVID lockdown. Recommendations: To prevent this from happening again during the 2nd wave of COVID-19, we could opt for multiple precautionary measures to avoid the spread of infection and continue the provision of our surgical services to the patients.