The impact of the pandemic on neurosurgical services: A study from a coronavirus disease 2019 referral hospital in Surakarta

BACKGROUND: A decrease in hospital visits including neurosurgery cases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been reported by many countries. This study aims to reveal important data regarding the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has on services, neurosurgical surgery, and inpatients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This comparative study compares neurosurgical services, neurosurgical patients, outpatient visits, and monthly inpatients assessed from January to December 2020 (onset of the pandemic) with those of the same period in 2019. RESULTS: The average number of outpatient visits per month during the pandemic (January to December 2020) was 369 visits per month, compared to 397 visits in the same period in the previous year. The lowest outpatient visits occurred in May 2020 with 227 outpatient visits. There was a decrease in the number of neurosurgical patients in January-December during the pandemic period compared to the same period in 2019. A significant decrease in outpatients during and before the pandemic was noted with P = 0.046 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: There are differences in the number of visits by outpatients, neurosurgical patients, and inpatients during the pandemic compared to the period before the onset of the pandemic.