Retrospective Evaluation of Postoperative Patients in Non-COVID Intensive Care Units During the Pandemic Period

Objective: During the pandemic period, hospital admissions for reasons other than COVID-19 infection decreased compared to the pre-pandemic period. In our study, it was aimed to examine the surgical (emergency and elective) and anesthesia (general and regional) type, clinical and demographic characteristics, COVID-19 (Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) status, length of stay and mortality rates of postoperative patients hospitalized in the non-COVID-19 intensive care unit during the pandemic, retrospectively. Methods: The files of the patients hospitalized in the postoperative intensive care unit between March, 2021 and March, 2022 were reviewed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups as emergency (Group A) and elective surgery (Group E). Age, gender, reason and duration of hospitalization, accompanying comorbidities, COVID-19 PCR results, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE) score, Glasgow coma scale and mortality rates of the patients were recorded. Results: Gender, APACHE II score and Glasgow coma scale were similar in both groups. However, there was a difference between the two groups in terms of age, length of stay, accompanying comorbidities, COVID-19 PCR results and mortality rates. Conclusion: The positive effect of the PCR test taken from elective surgeries in the preoperative period was observed. We think that the risk of COVID-19 infection is higher in patients undergoing emergency surgery and because of the high risk of transmission, isolation intensive care units are needed for these patients. Keywords: COVID-19, surgery, critical care