Worse outcomes were seen in COVID-19 negative patients who underwent elective colorectal surgery during the pandemic, according to a study published in Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery.
“Many elective operations were canceled early in the COVID-19 pandemic in order to conserve resources and to keep patients out of public settings,” Sarah B. Stringfield, from the department of surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, and colleagues wrote. “Our institution canceled elective cases except those that were considered ‘“medically necessary to correct a serious medical condition or to preserve the life of a patient.’” For colorectal patients, this included emergencies and selected cases such as cancer resections. We noticed that a high number of patients that underwent surgery during this time developed postoperative ileus (POI) and had a prolonged hospital stay. Our hypothesis was that patients undergoing surgery during the pandemic had worse short-term outcomes, despite being COVID-negative.