Increase in the surgical waiting list as a health consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic: a Balearic perspective

perspectivas22_bianchi

Abstract

Since the declaration of the state of alarm in March 2020, hospital admissions, clinical care and medical resources were significantly diverted to address the consequences of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). The severity of the situation affected most of the diseases, limiting health resources to dealing with cases of COVID-19 pneumonia and the most urgent diseases, both medical and surgical. Non-urgent care activity derived from other pathologies (non-COVID-19) was substantially reduced during the pandemic, partly due to the reorganization and reservation of resources and partly due to citizens' fear of contracting the virus in health centers. In addition, hospitals reduced elective surgeries to guarantee patient safety, to have more resources available and to be able to offer a broader and more effective response to this new and dramatic situation. These circumstances had a direct impact on the waiting lists for specialized care and these, without a doubt, on the surgical ones. The cancellation of elective surgery had a substantial impact on patients and cumulative and devastating consequences for health systems around the world, because it is logical to assume that the interruption of interventions not only left more beds free in intensive care units (ICU) for patients with COVID-19, but also affected all those patients who were waiting to be operated on for another disease. Following the resumption of elective activity by hospitals, the indication for elective surgery follows a prioritization according to clinical urgency, causing a further increase in delays for patients with benign but potentially disabling conditions, where there may be a lower time impact. perceived. All these aspects lead to a decrease in productivity and an increase in social costs, causing a deterioration in the health of the population and a worsening of the quality of life.