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The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions on Musculoskeletal Pathology Services
Ayşe Nur Toksöz Yıldırım1, Tulay Zenginkinet2, Erhan Okay3
1Pathology, Göztepe Research and Training Hospital, Istanbul, TUR.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted musculoskeletal pathology services, reducing benign lesions and tumor surgeries. However, bone and soft tissue biopsies remained feasible, indicating resilience in diagnostic procedures during health crises.
Area of Science:
- Pathology
- Oncology
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare, particularly in musculoskeletal pathology.
- No standardized protocols existed for pathology services during the pandemic.
- Tertiary centers in developing countries faced unique challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on musculoskeletal pathology workload.
- To identify collaboration challenges between pathology and orthopedic oncology units.
- To assess service delivery in a developing country's tertiary care setting.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of pathology reports.
- Data collected from mid-March to mid-June across 2019, 2020, and 2021.
- Comparison of workload metrics between pandemic and non-pandemic periods.
Main Results:
- Significant decrease in benign bone/soft tissue lesions and tumor surgeries during the pandemic (2020).
- No significant reduction observed in biopsy procedures during the pandemic.
- Biopsies for bone and soft tissue lesions were feasible without anesthesia during the pandemic.
Conclusions:
- Musculoskeletal pathology services demonstrated adaptability during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Biopsy procedures for bone and soft tissue lesions remained viable.
- Collaboration hurdles with orthopedic oncology require further investigation.
Background And Objectives:
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on healthcare in musculoskeletal pathology. There is no standard protocol for pathology services during a pandemic. The study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the workload of the musculoskeletal pathology service and the hurdles faced in collaboration with the orthopedic oncology unit in a tertiary reference center in a developing country.
Materials And Methods:
The pathology reports from mid-March to mid-June 2019, 2020, and 2021 were retrospectively reviewed.
Results:
Significant differences were found between the pandemic period (2020) and the non-pandemic periods (2019-2021) in benign bone and soft tissue lesions, resection surgeries, and soft tissue tumors, which were more prevalent in the non-pandemic periods. However, there was no significant decrease in biopsy procedures. Conclusion: During the pandemic period, the biopsy procedure appears to be feasible for bone and soft tissue lesions without the need for anesthesia.
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