Abstract:

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate whether thromboembolic events increased in the emergency department (ED) setting due to asymptomatic carriers. Patients and methods: This single-center, retrospective study included a total of 40,633 patients who were admitted to ED after the first case of COVID-19 in Turkey, between 11 March 2020 and 26 May 2020 and the corresponding dates in 2019. The number of patients and demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between the two years for cardiovascular surgery (CVS)-related venous and arterial thromboembolism events. Results: Emergency department admissions requiring CVS consultations decreased by 41.6% from 77 patients in 2019 to 45 patients in 2020. Total CVS consultations over the 11-week period per 1,000 ED admissions increased from 2.9 to 3.2. The number of deep vein thrombosis decreased from 14 to 9 during pandemic, while there was no significant difference in weekly cases of venous thrombosis. The number of arterial thromboembolism cases was 11 in 2019 and six in 2020. Weekly arterial thromboembolism admissions were not significantly different between the two years. Conclusion: Our study results showed that the rate of thromboembolic events did not increase in the general population admitted to the ED during the first 11 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Rize province of Turkey.

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