Impacts of COVID-19 on Patients With Common Surgical Emergencies at the King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global disaster with millions of infections and deaths. Healthcare systems and services were significantly affected, necessitating adjustments. These included postponement of scheduled appointments and elective surgeries. During the pandemic, there was an increase in the number of acute appendicitis, gallstones, and hernia with a significant impact on the signs and symptoms of presenting problems due to prehospital delay. Aim: This study aims to measure the impacts of COVID-19 on patients with common surgical emergencies in King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a single-center retrospective study conducted at King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. We reviewed all medical records of patients diagnosed with common surgical emergencies (acute appendicitis, gallstones, and hernia) during a selected time of COVID-19 lockdown and compared it with a similar set period before the crisis as a control sample. All medical records were reviewed to find out the overall number of admissions, frequency of emergency department (ED) visits, duration of illness, picture of clinical presentation, intraoperative findings, course and duration of admission, and final pathology if any. Results: A total of 322 patients were included in the study. Of these, 119 (37%) patients underwent surgery before COVID-19 while 203 (63%) patients underwent surgery during the pandemic. The diagnosis of acute appendicitis was 63.9% and 47.7%, hernia 27.7% and 34.6%, and gallstone was 8.4% and 17.7% for control and pandemic periods, respectively. The duration varied from 10 hours to two days and four hours to one month, seven hours to one day to eight hours to six months, and two hours to one day to seven hours to one and half a month for acute appendicitis, hernia, and gallstone in control and pandemic period, respectively. The mean length of stay for acute appendicitis was reduced from two days during the control period to one day during the pandemic period, from four to three days for gallstone, and for hernia, it remained three days for both the control and pandemic periods, respectively. Regarding the course of admission for acute appendicitis, the uneventful cases were reduced while an increase in uneventful cases for both hernia and gallstone was observed. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a noticeable reduction in hospital visits. We observed an increase in the number of one-time visits and a reduction of three, four, and seven-time visits, which was attributed to the fact that patients have been reported to visit the hospital after a long time from the onset of symptoms with a higher chance of complication and subsequent surgeries. The number of acute appendicitis cases was reduced while the cases of hernia and gallstones increased significantly. The minimum period for the duration of acute illness for appendicitis was reduced in the pandemic period, while the minimum period for both gallstone and hernia was increased as both conditions could require conservative management. The mean length of hospital stay was reduced during the pandemic period, mainly due to the early discharge implemented in COVID-19 protocols to decrease the risk of infection. The severity of symptoms was increased due to the cancellation and delaying of surgeries.