The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Gastroenterology Department activity of Da Nang Hospital

Objective: Covid-19 is a global pandemic that severely affects healthcare systems around the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 in the treatment and operation of the Department of Gastroenterology, Da Nang Hospital. Materials and menthods: Retrospective descriptive study was conducted from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020 at the Department of Gastroenterology, Da Nang Hospital. Results: During the period of 02 years, a total of 12,282 patients were included to our analysis (in 2019: 7838 patients, with 54.4% male 45.6% female, mean age 51, 46 ± 18.87 years. In 2020: 4446 patients with 57.2% male and 42.8% female, mean age 52.05 ± 18.36 years). During the Covid-19 epidemic, the most common groups of hospitalized symptoms included melena (7.3%), Hematochezia (6.3%), Hematemesis (6.3%) and jaundice (8.3%). Similarly, the disease groups increased the rate of hospitalization such as gastric ulcer (15.6% compared to before the epidemic 11.9%, p < 0.001), combined gastro-duodenum ulcer (4.7% compared to 3.1%, p < 0.01), stomach cancer (5.1% vs 3.4%, p < 0.01), colorectal cancer (14.7% vs 10.3%, p < 0.01), cirrhosis (58% vs 54.4%, p < 0.05), acute hepatitis (9.7% vs 5.8%, p < 0.05), acute pancreatitis (70.7% versus 63.1%, p < 0.05). In particular, the number of gastrointestinal endoscopy decreased significantly during the Covid-19 epidemic compared with before the epidemic (17156 timescompared with 10880, p < 0.001), of which the number of gastroscopy and ERCP was mainly reduced. In contrast, the rate of emergency endoscopy increased significantly compared to the pre-epidemic period (6.69% vs 5.85%, p < 0.01), so the number of endoscopy intervention also increased significantly (5.29% vs 2.71%, p < 0.001) as well as the need for surgical intervention also increased (5.6% vs 4.2%, p < 0.001). The rate of patients with complications and death was also higher during the Covid-19 epidemic than before the epidemic, respectively (2.5% vs 1.7%, p < 0.01), mortality (1.4% vs 0.9%, p < 0.01) and duration of hospitalization were also longer (6.7 ± 4.54 vs 6.44 ± 4.68 days, p < 0.01). Conclusion: The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly reduced the number of patients at the Department of Gastroenterology, Da Nang Hospital. It is necessary to change the mode of operation to flexibly adapt to the current situation. Thereby helping to significantly reduce the impact on non-Covid-19 patients Key words: Covid-19 pandemic, Department of Gastroenterology, Da Nang Hospital