| Popis: |
Aims We evaluated the initial impact of COVID-19 outbreak on endoscopic procedures from a Gastroenterology departmentin a Portuguese hospital. Methods All esophagogastroduodenoscopies (EGD), colonoscopies, endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatographies(ERCP) and endoscopic ultrasounds (EUS) performed between April and June 2020 were compared with all theseprocedures performed between April and June 2019. In EGD and colonoscopies, whether they were elective or urgent wasregistered. The reasons of procedures leading to new cancer diagnosis and the presence of advanced polyps incolonoscopies were recorded. Results Between April and June 2020, 513 EGD and colonoscopies were performed, 42 % of those performed during thesame trimester in 2019. Although this difference occurred mainly due to a reduction to 34.5 % in the number of electiveprocedures, urgent EGD and colonoscopies were also reduced to 73.2 %. The detection rate of advanced adenomas wassimilar in 2019 and 2020 (16.8 % in 2019 and 17.8 % in 2020), meaning that only one third were detected in 2020. In2020, 87.2 % of ERCP and 46.3 % of EUS from 2019 were done. 4 EGD in COVID-19 positive patients were performed inthis trimester. In 2020, only 46 % of new cancer diagnosis were made, when compared to the same period of 2019. This reduction wassignificant in colorectal and esophageal cancers, but not in gastric cancer. The proportions of new oncological diagnosisduring urgent procedures in 2019 and 2020 were 20.5 % and 38.9 % respectively. Conclusions Although repercussions from this pandemic on digestive Oncology are already evident, its real impact is farfrom being known. The delay of colorectal cancer diagnosis, the second most common cause of cancer death in Europe, willlead to a significant increase in overall morbimortality. National and international programs to recover this fall in endoscopicprocedures will be of the most importance to reduce this outcome of COVID-19. |
