Omar H Tarawneh, Steven Garay-Morales, Ivan Z Liu, Haig Pakhchanian, Syed Faraz Kazim, Katie Roster, Lea McDaniel, Sean A Tabaie, John Vellek, Rahul Raiker, Meic H Schmidt, Christian A Bowers, Tony Tannoury, Chadi Tannoury
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Study design: Retrospective analysis of a national database.
Objectives: COVID-19 resulted in the widespread shifting of hospital resources to handle surging COVID-19 cases resulting in the postponement of surgeries, including numerous spine procedures. This study aimed to quantify the impact that COVID-19 had on the number of treated spinal conditions and diagnoses during the pandemic.
Methods: Using CPT and ICD-10 codes, TriNetX, a national database, was utilized to quantify spine procedures and diagnoses in patients >18 years of age. The period of March 2020-May 2021 was compared to a reference pre-pandemic period of March 2018-May 2019. Each time period was then stratified into four seasons of the year, and the mean average number of procedures per healthcare organization was compared.
Results: In total, 524,394 patient encounters from 53 healthcare organizations were included in the analysis. There were significant decreases in spine procedures and diagnoses during March-May 2020 compared to pre-pandemic levels. Measurable differences were noted for spine procedures during the winter of 2020-2021, including a decrease in lumbar laminectomy and anterior cervical arthrodesis. Comparing the pandemic period to the pre-pandemic period showed significant reductions in most spine procedures and treated diagnoses; however, there was an increase in open repair of thoracic fractures during this period.
Conclusions: COVID-19 resulted in a widespread decrease in spinal diagnosis and treated conditions. An inverse relationship was observed between new COVID-19 cases and spine procedural volume. Recent increases in procedural volume from pre-pandemic levels are promising signs that the spine surgery community has narrowed the gap in unmet care produced by the pandemic.
期刊介绍:
Global Spine Journal (GSJ) is the official scientific publication of AOSpine. A peer-reviewed, open access journal, devoted to the study and treatment of spinal disorders, including diagnosis, operative and non-operative treatment options, surgical techniques, and emerging research and clinical developments.GSJ is indexed in PubMedCentral, SCOPUS, and Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI).