Clinical-epidemiological changes in patients with non-traumatic acute abdomen during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective study

OBJECTIVE: we intend to demonstrate the clinical alterations and the postoperative evolution in patients with acute abdomen non-traumatic in conservative or surgical treatment during the pandemic compared to a similar period in the last year. METHOD: a single-center retrospective study, including patients who received clinical-surgical treatment at Hospital do Trabalhador diagnosed with acute abdomen between March and August 2020 and a similar period in 2019.Variables studied ranged from demographic data to indices of social isolation. RESULTS: 515 patients were included, 291 received treatment in a pre-pandemic period and 224 during. There was not statistical difference in relation to comorbidities (p=0.0685), time to diagnosis and seeking medical help. No statistical differences were observed in terms of days of hospitalization (p = 0.4738) and ICU need (p=0.2320). Regarding in-hospital deaths, there was statistical relevance in the age above 60 years (p=0.002) and there were more deaths during the pandemic period (p=0.032). However, when we analyze the factors associated with the number of days until diagnosis by a physician, there was no statistical difference. CONCLUSION: the analyzed data showed that the pandemic period and age over 60 years were the variables that increased the odds ratio for the in-hospital death outcome. However, the length of stay, days in intensive care unit and postoperative surgical complications showed no significant difference.