Comparison of Colorectal Cancer Surgery Services During COVID-19 First Wave With Pre-COVID Time

Introduction The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom (UK) was reported on 29 January 2020. The country saw the peak of infection between March and May of 2020. The result was a change in the practice of how we treat most surgical conditions including cancer. We continued providing service to our colorectal cancer patients at a District General Hospital. The aim of this study was to compare our provision of colorectal cancer service during the peak of the pandemic to that of the pre-COVID time in our hospital.  Methods We collected data of all colorectal cancer patients who underwent surgery between 1 March 2020 and 30 April 2020 in our hospital. The comparative data were collected for similar patients during the same time frame in 2019. A detailed data set was compiled on Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Corp, Washington) and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0 (Released 2012. IBM Corp, Armonk, NY). Results The two groups were comparable in demographics including age, BMI, gender, and Charlson comorbidity index. Time from decision- to-treat to surgery, post-operative HDU/ITU stay, and overall length of stay was shorter in the COVID group than the Pre-COVID group without any significant statistical difference. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in Calvien-Dindo complications grade 1 and 2. No mortality was reported due to direct or indirect consequences of COVID-19 infection. More open procedures were performed in our department during the first wave of COVID-19 in the UK compared to Pre-COVID time. Conclusions Despite the challenges we faced during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we managed to provide standard care to our colorectal cancer patients with comparable post-operative surgical and oncological outcomes.