Spinal Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the healthcare system’s capacities around the world. Due to the alarming situation, medical activities have been restricted to allocate resources to treat COVID-19-infected patients. However, medical emergencies still need urgent medical interventi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Faisal Konbaz, Taif Alqahtani, Nada Alharthi, Mohammad Baraja, Nazish Masud, Sami Aleissa, Fahad Alhelal, Majed Abalkhail
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Knowledge E 2021-11-01
Series:Journal of Spine Practice
Online Access:https://knepublishing.com/index.php/jsp/article/view/9772
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850030039004872704
author Faisal Konbaz
Taif Alqahtani
Nada Alharthi
Mohammad Baraja
Nazish Masud
Sami Aleissa
Fahad Alhelal
Majed Abalkhail
author_facet Faisal Konbaz
Taif Alqahtani
Nada Alharthi
Mohammad Baraja
Nazish Masud
Sami Aleissa
Fahad Alhelal
Majed Abalkhail
author_sort Faisal Konbaz
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the healthcare system’s capacities around the world. Due to the alarming situation, medical activities have been restricted to allocate resources to treat COVID-19-infected patients. However, medical emergencies still need urgent medical intervention. Considering the lack of reliable data regarding spinal surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic, the present study sought to analyze the pattern of spinal surgeries in KSA. Methodology: A case series of patients who had urgent spine surgeries during COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in a tertiary care hospital. Data on patients’ demographics, COVID-19 test result, American Society of Anesthesia Score, SSS grade, diagnosis, and data related to surgery and postoperative findings were collected. All collected data were then processed and analyzed. Surgical outcomes based on source of admission were compared using Chi-square test. Result: A total of 63 patients who underwent spine surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic were included. The mean age of the patients was 53 ± 18 years and males were predominant (59%). The positive COVID-19 patients were 3%. Almost half of the patients were classified into ASA II. The majority were categorized into grade B (65%) according to SSS. The frequently diagnosed condition was fracture (33%), followed by spinal stenosis (18%) and metastatic (10%), while the most mentioned location was lumbar (61%). Postoperative complications were found in 11% of the patients. The readmission rate within 30 days, unplanned return to OR and ICU admission were 19%, 13%, and 11%, respectively. While the mean duration between admission and surgery was 8 ± 20 days, the mean duration of length of stay was 20 ± 29 days. Further, a significant association was seen between the admission source and the surgical procedure performed and surgical indication. Conclusion: It has been demonstrated that the surgical intervention was only provided to patients requiring immediate or urgent spinal management. However, the length of hospitalization and duration between hospital admission and surgery was substantially prolonged. Further studies are warranted to determine the factors leading to prolonged hospitalization and time between hospital admission and surgery.
format Article
id doaj-art-a3b4e0cfad584540ac96a1bf1c01d1cc
institution DOAJ
issn 2789-9454
2789-9462
language English
publishDate 2021-11-01
publisher Knowledge E
record_format Article
series Journal of Spine Practice
spelling doaj-art-a3b4e0cfad584540ac96a1bf1c01d1cc2025-08-20T02:59:20ZengKnowledge EJournal of Spine Practice2789-94542789-94622021-11-011110.18502/jsp.v1i1.9772Spinal Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi ArabiaFaisal Konbaz0Taif Alqahtani1Nada Alharthi2Mohammad Baraja3Nazish Masud4Sami Aleissa5Fahad Alhelal6Majed Abalkhail7Saudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the healthcare system’s capacities around the world. Due to the alarming situation, medical activities have been restricted to allocate resources to treat COVID-19-infected patients. However, medical emergencies still need urgent medical intervention. Considering the lack of reliable data regarding spinal surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic, the present study sought to analyze the pattern of spinal surgeries in KSA. Methodology: A case series of patients who had urgent spine surgeries during COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in a tertiary care hospital. Data on patients’ demographics, COVID-19 test result, American Society of Anesthesia Score, SSS grade, diagnosis, and data related to surgery and postoperative findings were collected. All collected data were then processed and analyzed. Surgical outcomes based on source of admission were compared using Chi-square test. Result: A total of 63 patients who underwent spine surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic were included. The mean age of the patients was 53 ± 18 years and males were predominant (59%). The positive COVID-19 patients were 3%. Almost half of the patients were classified into ASA II. The majority were categorized into grade B (65%) according to SSS. The frequently diagnosed condition was fracture (33%), followed by spinal stenosis (18%) and metastatic (10%), while the most mentioned location was lumbar (61%). Postoperative complications were found in 11% of the patients. The readmission rate within 30 days, unplanned return to OR and ICU admission were 19%, 13%, and 11%, respectively. While the mean duration between admission and surgery was 8 ± 20 days, the mean duration of length of stay was 20 ± 29 days. Further, a significant association was seen between the admission source and the surgical procedure performed and surgical indication. Conclusion: It has been demonstrated that the surgical intervention was only provided to patients requiring immediate or urgent spinal management. However, the length of hospitalization and duration between hospital admission and surgery was substantially prolonged. Further studies are warranted to determine the factors leading to prolonged hospitalization and time between hospital admission and surgery. https://knepublishing.com/index.php/jsp/article/view/9772
spellingShingle Faisal Konbaz
Taif Alqahtani
Nada Alharthi
Mohammad Baraja
Nazish Masud
Sami Aleissa
Fahad Alhelal
Majed Abalkhail
Spinal Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia
Journal of Spine Practice
title Spinal Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia
title_full Spinal Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr Spinal Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed Spinal Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia
title_short Spinal Surgery During COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia
title_sort spinal surgery during covid 19 pandemic in saudi arabia
url https://knepublishing.com/index.php/jsp/article/view/9772
work_keys_str_mv AT faisalkonbaz spinalsurgeryduringcovid19pandemicinsaudiarabia
AT taifalqahtani spinalsurgeryduringcovid19pandemicinsaudiarabia
AT nadaalharthi spinalsurgeryduringcovid19pandemicinsaudiarabia
AT mohammadbaraja spinalsurgeryduringcovid19pandemicinsaudiarabia
AT nazishmasud spinalsurgeryduringcovid19pandemicinsaudiarabia
AT samialeissa spinalsurgeryduringcovid19pandemicinsaudiarabia
AT fahadalhelal spinalsurgeryduringcovid19pandemicinsaudiarabia
AT majedabalkhail spinalsurgeryduringcovid19pandemicinsaudiarabia