The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on urological emergencies: a single-center experience

PURPOSE: COVID-19 pandemic represents a novel challenge for healthcare systems, and it affects even the daily urological practice. Italy was the first country after China to experience a lock-down period. Our objective is to determine whether, during the COVID-19 period, there has been any modification in urological emergencies. METHODS: we retrospectively reviewed urgent urological consultations requested by the Emergency Department (ED) of Padua University Hospital in the 36-day period between February 22nd and March 30th, 2020 and compared them to the prior year cases within a similar time frame (February 24th to March 31st, 2019). Pediatric population (age < 15 years); surgical complications and traumas were excluded to avoid confounding from the reduction of activities during the lockdown. The number of daily consultations, the number of invasive procedures performed and admissions were evaluated, together with the predictors of admission were identified through multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: The final sample resulted in 107 consultations performed in 2020 and 266 in 2019. A higher number of daily consultations was performed during 2019 (7.33 vs 2.97, p < 0.001). Similarly, the number of daily-invasive procedures was higher in 2019 (p = 0.006), while there was no difference in the number of daily admissions (15 vs 12, p = 0.80). On multivariate analysis, the year (2020 vs 2019, OR 2.714, 95% CI 1.096–6.757, p = 0.0297) was a significant predictor of admission. CONCLUSIONS: Urgent urology practice was affected during COVID-19 pandemic with a remarkable reduction in urgent urological consultations; furthermore, a higher risk of admissions was observed in 2020. The consequences of a potentially delayed diagnosis remain to be determined. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00345-020-03264-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.