Flattening the curve in oncologic surgery: Impact of Covid‐19 on surgery at tertiary care cancer center

Abstract

Introduction Covid‐19 has ushered in drastic changes to the healthcare system in order to “flatten the curve”; in particular, surgical operations that can consume vital, limited resources, not to mention the risk to staff, anesthesiologists, and surgeons. However, under unique circumstances with diligent preparation, vital oncologic operations can be performed safely. Methods Prospective comparison of surgical cases during the pandemic from December 2019 to May 2020 to the correlating time frame from December 2018 to May 2019. Results A significant decline in case volume was not appreciated until the United States declared a national state of emergency, allowing patients with cancer to continue to undergo curative tumor resection until then (428.3 ± 51.5 vs 166.6 ± 59.8 cases/week; P < .001). The decrease was consistent with the mean case volume during the holidays (213.8 ± 76.8 vs 166.6 ± 59.8 case/week; P = .648). Evaluation of surgical subspecialties demonstrated a significant decrease for all subspecialties with the greatest decline in sarcoma (P = .002) and endocrine (P = .001) surgeries, while vascular (P = .004) and thoracic (P = .011) surgeries had the least. Conclusions The novel coronavirus has drastically reduced oncologic operations, but with proper evaluation of patients and allocation of resources, surgery can be performed safely without compromising the aim to flatten the curve and control the coronavirus pandemic.