The impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions and treatment management of ectopic pregnancy
Hande Gurbuz1
, Gulfem Basol2, Mehmet Mustafa Altintas3, Betul Kuru2
1Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Bursa City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Bursa, Turkey
2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kartal Dr. Lutfi Kirdar City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
3Department of General Surgery, Kartal Dr. Lutfi Kirdar City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey
Keywords: Anesthesia, COVID‑19, ectopic pregnancy, emergency, surgery
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the clinical features and treatment strategies applied to the patients with ectopic pregnancy admitted to our tertiary care center before and during the pandemic.
METHODS: Women aged 18–45 years, who were admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy in the pre and postpandemic periods, were included in this case–control study.
RESULTS: Atotal of 173 patients, 116 patients before the pandemic and 57 patients during the pandemic, were included in the study. The rate of admissions from the emergency department was higher during the pandemic than before the pandemic (P = 0.003). The rupture was detected significantly higher during the outbreak (13/116 [11.2%]) than before the pandemic (16/57 [28.1%]) (P = 0.009). While conservative treatment was applied more frequently in the prepandemic period, it was observed that patients were treated surgically more frequently during the pandemic period (P= 0.003). While laparoscopic surgery was preferred before the pandemic, laparotomy was applied to all patients during the pandemic (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: In the first wave of the outbreak, there were delays in the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancies, and these patients presented with ruptures more frequently than before the pandemic. Furthermore, surgical treatment methods were used more than conservative therapies during the outbreak.
How to cite this article: Gurbuz H, Basol G, Altintas MM, Kuru B. The impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions and treatment management of ectopic pregnancy. Turk J Emerg Med 2023;23:238-43.
Kartal Dr. Lütfi Kirdar City Hospital Clinical Studies Ethics Committee, Istanbul, Turkey, decision no: 514/190/17, November 25, 2020.
Informed consent was not obtained from the patients due to the retrospective design.
HG: protocol development, data collection and management, data analysis, and manuscript writing/editing. GB: protocol development, data collection and management, data analysis, and manuscript writing/editing. BK: protocol development, data collection, and manuscript writing/editing. MMA: data collection and management and manuscript writing/editing.
None declared.
None.