Characterization of initial North American pediatric surgical response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Authors

Martha-Conley E Ingram, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Mehul V Raval, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Christopher Newton, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital
Monica E Lopez, Baylor College of Medicine
Loren Berman, MD, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-1-2020

Comments

This article is the author’s final published version in Journal of Pediatric Surgery, Volume 55, Issue 8, August 2020, Pages 1431-1435.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2020.06.001 .Copyright © Elsevier Inc.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric surgical care systems is unknown. We present an initial evaluation of self-reported pediatric surgical policy changes from hospitals across North America.

METHODS: On March 30, 2020, an online open access, data gathering spreadsheet was made available to pediatric surgeons through the American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) website, which captured information surrounding COVID-19 related policy changes. Responses from the first month of the pandemic were collected. Open-ended responses were evaluated and categorized into themes and descriptive statistics were performed to identify areas of consensus.

RESULTS: Responses from 38 hospitals were evaluated. Policy changes relating to three domains of program structure and care processes were identified: internal structure, clinical workflow, and COVID-19 safety/prevention. Interhospital consensus was high for reducing in-hospital staffing, limiting clinical fellow exposure, implementing telehealth for conducting outpatient clinical visits, and using universal precautions for trauma. Heterogeneity in practices existed for scheduling procedures, implementing testing protocols, and regulating use of personal protective equipment.

CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has induced significant upheaval in the usual processes of pediatric surgical care. While policies evolve, additional research is needed to determine the effect of these changes on patient and healthcare delivery outcomes.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

Recommended Citation

Ingram, Martha-Conley E; Raval, Mehul V; Newton, Christopher; Lopez, Monica E; and Berman, MD, Loren, "Characterization of initial North American pediatric surgical response to the COVID-19 pandemic" (2020). Department of Surgery Faculty Papers. Paper 192.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/surgeryfp/192

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

32561172

Language

English