The Long Haul to Surgery: Long COVID Has Minimal Burden on Surgical Departments

Nicole Hamilton Goldhaber (), Karthik Ramesh, Lucy E. Horton, Christopher A. Longhurst, Estella Huang, Santiago Horgan, Garth R. Jacobsen, Bryan J. Sandler and Ryan C. Broderick
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Nicole Hamilton Goldhaber: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
Karthik Ramesh: School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
Lucy E. Horton: Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
Christopher A. Longhurst: Division of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
Estella Huang: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
Santiago Horgan: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
Garth R. Jacobsen: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
Bryan J. Sandler: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA
Ryan C. Broderick: Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 9, 1-7

Abstract: Many patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) continue to experience symptoms for weeks to years as sequelae of the initial infection, referred to as “Long COVID”. Although many studies have described the incidence and symptomatology of Long COVID, there are little data reporting the potential burden of Long COVID on surgical departments. A previously constructed database of survey respondents who tested positive for COVID-19 was queried, identifying patients reporting experiencing symptoms consistent with Long COVID. Additional chart review determined whether respondents had a surgical or non-routine invasive procedure on or following the date of survey completion. Outcomes from surgeries on patients reporting Long COVID symptoms were compared to those from asymptomatic patients. A total of 17.4% of respondents had surgery or a non-routine invasive procedure in the study period. A total of 48.8% of these patients reported experiencing symptoms consistent with Long COVID. No statistically significant differences in surgical outcomes were found between groups. The results of this analysis demonstrate that Long COVID does not appear to have created a significant burden of surgical disease processes on the healthcare system despite the wide range of chronic symptoms and increased healthcare utilization by this population. This knowledge can help guide surgical operational resource allocation as a result of the pandemic and its longer-term sequelae.

Keywords: long COVID; post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2; surgical burden; pandemic; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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