Emergency room access during pandemic: Can urologist learn something from the covid-19? An italian experience

Abstract

Carmen Maccagnano*, Giario Natale Conti, Matteo Ferro and Rodolfo Hurle

Backgrounds: Head to head critical comparison of data about Emergency Room (ER) admission due to urological conditions during the first month of COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) with the data about the same period of 2019. Methods: One of the authors queried the clinical database of a hospital with a catchment area of around 600.000 inhabitants about urologic consults and procedures in ER. Thus, all the Authors analyzed the data, comparing them with the most recent literature. Results: In March 2019 202 pts have been admitted to ER for urological problems. The most frequent urological conditions have been renal colic (32.2%) and acute scrotum (25.4%). 24.3% of pts has been hospitalized and 13.4% of all the pts have been operated, with endoscopic treatment of ureteral calculi being the most frequent procedure. In march 2020 47 pts have been admitted to ER for urological problems and the most common urological condition has been, again, renal colic (32%), acute scrotum (19.2%), together with gross hematuria (19.2%). 40.6% of pts have been hospitalized and 17.2% have been operated. The half of the procedures has been endoscopy for treating ureteral calculi. All the other procedures were executed in a maximum of 1 patient. Conclusion: The total number of ER access has comprehensibly reduced due to pandemic. COVID-19 outbreak can lead to a significant delay in the management of urinary tract infections and urosepsis. Thus, urologists have to be ready to manage the related complications in the next future.