The effect of CoViD-19 pandemic on the hospitalization of a department of Emergency Surgery

Abstract

CoViD-19 caused a significant alteration of the normal activity of hospital facilities. In particular, the surgical departments have been converted and reprogrammed to cope with the emergency, giving priority to urgent procedures that cannot be deferred. To this must be added the actions implemented by governments, such as the lockdown, which forced people to stay in their homes. In this study it was analyzed how the pandemic and the actions taken to counter the spread of the infection have influenced the activity of the Department of Emergency Surgery of "San Giovanni di Dio and Ruggi d'Aragona" University Hospital in Salerno (Italy). Logistic regression and statistical analysis were used to compare the pre-pandemic data (year 2019) with that recorded at the height of the pandemic (year 2020). The results show that Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) weight and urgent hospitalization increased significantly in 2020.