Az orvos-, egészségtudományi- és gyógyszerészképzés tudományos műhelyeinek fejlesztése(EFOP-3.6.3-VEKOP-16-2017-00009)
Funder: EFOP-VEKOP
Subjects:
Neurosurgery
Traumatology
We retrospectively studied the development of neurotrauma case numbers during the
COVID-19 pandemic in the largest trauma center in Hungary and compared them to the
data of the previous year. We hypothesized that the decrease in the number of neurotrauma
cases during the restrictions would subsequently lead to a significant increase in
a so-called rebound phenomenon. Our goal was to better understand the effect of the
pandemic and the restrictive measures on neurotrauma admissions to help better prepare
for a new pandemic or for other mobility restrictions. We compiled daily case numbers
from January 1, 2019, to April 30, 2021, which included the treatment of 861 patients
with spinal trauma and 1244 patients with head injuries from 2019 to 2020, and 871
and 1255 patients with spinal trauma and head injuries, respectively, from March 2020
to April 30, 2021. The parameters studied were patients’ age, admission date and time
from injury to admission. We also conducted a minimum 3-month follow-up study with
patients admitted during the pandemic to determine the changes in the hazard ratio
of mortality. We found that in each wave of the pandemic, during the restrictive measures,
neurotrauma case numbers decreased. After the first restrictions, we observed a clinically
relevant rebound effect among spinal trauma patients. The main findings of the follow-up
were that the hazard ratio of mortality for COVID-19 infected patients was 2.5 (p
< 0.001), compared with the mortality hazard ratio of COVID-19-negative patients.
Restrictions during the pandemic significantly reduced population mobility helping
slow down the spread of the virus and give time to healthcare systems to better prepare.
At the same time, it also reduced the number of new neurotrauma cases. In case of
spinal trauma patients, a rebound effect was observed after the restrictions, which
may be due to increased mobility, activity and travel. The restrictive measures reduced
trauma cases effectively, while not increased the time from injury to admission.
