COVID-19 Pandemic Was Associated with Lower Activity but Not Higher Perioperative Mortality in a Large Eastern European Center

BACKGROUND: Surges of critically ill patients can overwhelm hospitals during pandemic waves and disrupt essential surgical activity. This study aimed to determine whether hospital mortality increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and during pandemic waves. MATERIAL/METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of a prospective, observational, epidemiological database. All patients who underwent surgery from January 1 to December 31, 2020, were included in the analysis. The setting was a large Eastern European Surgical Center referral center of liver transplant and liver surgery, a major center of abdominal surgery. RESULTS: A total of 1078 patients were analyzed, and this number corresponded to a reduction of surgical activity by 30% during the year 2020 compared with 2019. Despite an increase in surgery complexity during the pandemic, perioperative mortality was not different, and this was maintained during the pandemic wave. The pandemic (OR 1.45 [0.65–3.22], P=0.365) and the wave period (OR 0.897 [0.4–2], P=0.79) were not associated with hospital mortality in univariate analysis. In the multivariate model analysis, only the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score (OR 5.815 [2.9–11.67], P<0.0001), emergency surgery (OR 5.066 [2.24–11.48], P<0.0001), and need for surgical reintervention (OR 5.195 [1.78–15.16], P=0.003) were associated with hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Despite considerable challenges, in this large retrospective cohort, perioperative mortality was similar to that of pre-pandemic practice. Efforts should be made to optimize personnel issues, while maintaining COVID-19-free surgical pathways, to adequately address patients’ surgical needs during the following waves of the pandemic.