Abstract:

Objective: IEmergency surgery cases have an important place in General Surgery. During the COVID-19 epidemic, patients’ fear of being affected by the epidemic and the complexity of their behavior make the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases difficult. Methods: The computerized database of patients who underwent surgery with the diagnosis of acute appendicitis, cholecystitis, and colorectal cancer in our tertiary center during the COVID pandemic was retrospectively reviewed as pre-pandemic and pre-pandemic. Results: During the study period, 1100 patients were operated for appendicitis, 500 patients for cholecystitis, and 120 patients for oncological diseases. The mean age was similar for both periods, with a mean age of 34.06 ± 16.7 years in the pre-pandemic period and 36.72 ± 15.31 years in the pandemic period. The duration of admission to hospital after symptom onset was similar in both periods (34.55 ± 31.51 vs. 34.35 ± 37.94 h, P = 0.968). There was no significant difference between laboratory tests. WBC values were 12.73 ± 4.3 × 103 in the pre-pandemic period and 13.62 ± 4.62 × 103 (P = 0.1308) in the post-pandemic period. All patients used at least 1 imaging method before and during the pandemic. Conclusion: IIn the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant increase in the rate of need for complicated emergency surgery. Patients should be strongly encouraged to seek emergency outpatient clinics at the onset of symptoms to avoid this.

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