The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Urological Emergencies, 8 Months Results of a Multicenter Retrospective Study From Turkey

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to reveal the change of urological emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same period of the previous year. METHODS: The number of admissions to the emergency department (ED), admissions to the urology outpatient clinic, emergency urological consultations, and urological and emergency urological surgeries during the periods April-November-2019 and April-November-2020 were recorded. The data of the COVID-19 period were compared with the previous year. RESULTS: While the number of admissions to the urological outpatient clinic was 160,447 during the COVID period, it was 351,809 during the non-COVID period. The number of admissions to the ED decreased from 3.2 million to 2.4. The number of admissions to the urology outpatient clinic significantly decreased by 54% during the pandemic (p=0.001). Percutaneous cystostomy performed due to acute urinary obstruction decreased by 27.96%, double J stent, nephrostomy decreased by 16.61%, and ureterorenoscopy decreased by 12.26%. Urogenital trauma also decreased. On the contrary, surgical procedures performed due to penile fracture, gross hematuria, Fournier gangrene, and testicular torsion increased. CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant decrease was observed in non-COVID patients’ admissions to the emergency and urology department, and in urologic surgeries.