Abstract
ObjectivesWhile the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic looks to persist, institutions promote delaying procedures. Understanding trends and demands of interventional radiology (IR) procedures in the infected and COVID-free populations are needed in long-term planning. We detail IR procedure trends in the first 27 weeks of the pandemic and compare with the pre-pandemic era.MethodsIn this IRB approved retrospective electronic case review, all IR patients in our institution from 1 January to 9 July 2020, the same period in 2019 pre-pandemic and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) outbreak were included. IR procedures were classified using Interventional Radiology—Procedure Acuity Scale (IR-PAS) and category of IR procedures. Along with descriptive frequencies, the Mann–Whitney U test and Chi-square test of independence were performed.ResultsDuring the pandemic, 3655 IR procedures were performed compared to 3851 procedures pre-pandemic. No statistically significant difference in weekly IR caseloads across IR-PAS tiers between both periods (p = .088) and category of procedure (p = .054) were noted. General intervention procedures remained the largest proportion and musculoskeletal procedures the minority, in both periods. More general intervention radiology and oncology procedures were performed during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the SARS-CoV outbreak. Thirty-four (0.93%) IR procedures were performed on 30 COVID-19 patients. There was no IR procedure-related COVID-19 cross-transmission.ConclusionsDemand for IR procedures among COVID-free patients remains high, and IR procedures involving COVID-19 represents a fraction of the IR caseload. A sustainable model in providing timely IR services to COVID-free patients needs to be considered.
Highlights
Singapore was one of the first countries outside of China to be affected by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) [1], with the first confirmed case detected on the 23rd January 2020, and a surge in cases 3 months later [2]
Like during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) outbreak in 2003 [5], our hospital was designated as the main acute care center for the COVID19 pandemic
This study aims to review the trend of interventional radiology (IR) procedures in our institution during the first 27 weeks of the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic era
Summary
Singapore was one of the first countries outside of China to be affected by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) [1], with the first confirmed case detected on the 23rd January 2020, and a surge in cases 3 months later [2]. How and Pua Insights Imaging (2020) 11:131 time of writing, a total of 47,126 confirmed COVID19 cases, with a single-day peak of 1400 new cases in mid-April 2020 [3]. Like during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) outbreak in 2003 [5], our hospital was designated as the main acute care center for the COVID19 pandemic. The interventional radiology (IR) service provides IR coverage to both the main hospital and the NCID, the latter housing a dedicated negative pressure angiography suite, CT fluoroscopy and ultrasound procedure rooms
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