Impact of the COVID pandemic on treatment of bariatric patients in Germany-An analysis of the national StuDoQ/MBE register

Abstract

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic the standard inpatient care of patients was restricted to increase overall and intensive care capacity reserves for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected persons. This article presents the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the surgical and postoperative care of bariatric patients in Germany. Astatistical analysis of the national StuDoQ/MBE register data for the period from 1 May 2018 until 31 May 2022 was performed. Throughout the entire study period there was acontinuous increase in documented operations, which continued even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Asignificant intermittent decline in surgery performed was observed only during the imposition of first lockdown in the months of March to May 2020, with aminimum number of 194 cases performed monthly in April 2020. The pandemic had no measurable effect on the surgically treated patient population, the type of surgical procedure, the perioperative and postoperative outcomes and follow-up care. Based on the results of the StuDoQ data and the current literature, it can be deduced that bariatric surgery can be carried out with no increased risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and the quality of postoperative care is not impaired.