Optimize the management of urological tube-related emergencies during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

BACKGROUND: To introduce and determine the value of optimized strategies for the management of urological tube-related emergencies with increased incidence, complexity and operational risk during the global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: All emergent urological patients at Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, during the period of January 23 (the beginning of lockdown in Wuhan) to March 23, 2020, and the corresponding period in 2019 were recruited to form this study’s COVID-19 group and control group, respectively. Tongji Hospital has the most concentrated and strongest Chinese medical teams to treat the largest number of severe COVID-19 patients. Patients in the control group were routinely treated, while patients in the COVID-19 group were managed following the optimized principles and strategies. The case incidence for each type of tube-related emergency was recorded. Baseline characteristics and management outcomes (surgery time, secondary complex operation rate, readmission rate, COVID-19 infection rate) were analyzed and compared across the control and COVID-19 periods. RESULTS: The total emergent urological patients during the COVID-19 period was 42, whereas during the control period, it was 124. The incidence of tube-related emergencies increased from 53% to 88% (P<0.001) during the COVID-19 period. In particular, the incidence of nephrostomy tube-related (31% vs. 15%, P=0.027) and single-J stent-related problems (19% vs. 6%, P=0.009) increased significantly. The mean surgery times across the two periods were comparable. The number of secondary complex operations increased from 12 (18%) to 14 (38%) (P=0.028) during the COVID 19-period. The number of 2-week postoperative readmission decreased from 10 (15%) to 1 (3%) (P=0.049). No participants contracted during the COVID-19 period. CONCLUSIONS: Urological tube-related emergencies have been found to have a higher incidence and require more complicated and dangerous operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the optimized management strategies introduced in this study are efficient, and safe for both urologists and patients.