Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Elective Surgery for Colorectal Cancer

PURPOSE: To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with colorectal cancer undergoing elective surgery. METHODS: The medical records of patients with colorectal cancer who underwent elective surgery in our department during the COVID-19 pandemic (February 1 to May 31, 2020) were collected and analyzed. We compared the clinical data with colorectal cancer during the same 4-month period in 2018 and 2019. RESULTS: Sixty-seven patients with colorectal cancer underwent elective surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was 66% of the number of patients that underwent the procedure during the same period in 2018 and 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of patients without any digestive system symptoms decreased to 3% and severe clinical symptoms decreased by 20.9%. The proportion of right colon cancer decreased by 17.9%, while the proportion of rectal cancer increased by 52.2%, as compared with 2018 and 2019. The fraction of protective stoma was significantly higher than in 2018 (23.9% vs. 8.7%, p = 0.011). Compared with 2019, the average post-operative stay was significantly shorter than in 2018 (9.6 ± 3.7 vs. 12.1 ± 9.1, p = 0.015). Compared with 2019, the number of patients with perineural invasion (a feature of adverse prognosis) significantly increased (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients undergoing elective surgery for colorectal cancer was reduced. However, the tumor stage of patients did not change substantially. We suggest that the clinical diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer should strictly comply with national and professional standards.