A prolonged wait: The impact of COVID-19 on elective surgeries in India, a prospective study

Abstract

Background The continuing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a massive impact on healthcare systems all around the globe. There is no exception in the demographics of elective surgery also. Like any other medical professionals, surgeons and post-graduates are redirected to the management of patients with COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected elective surgeries, surgeon skills, and post-graduate training. Methods This prospective study was done among 320 participants through a 15-question online cross-sectional survey sent primarily to surgeons practicing in six states of India that were most affected by the pandemic according to recent statistics and also to surgeons in other states via email or other online messaging services carried out from June 2021 to July 2021. Results 320 surgeons participated from various states in India. Overall, 59.7% of those participants who agreed that there was a reduction in bed availability, 70.4% of those participants who agreed that there was a shortage of oxygen, 78.8% of those participants who agreed that there was a shortage of PPE kits, 60.7% of those participants who agreed that there was a delay in procurement of surgical implants and 64% of participants also agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the post-graduate teaching program. Conclusions All these factors showed significant p-values with statistical significance, thereby indicating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare system and healthcare delivery. The pandemic also had a significant impact on post-graduate training.