Changes in Colorectal Cancer Practices during the Early COVID-19 Period

The aim of our study is to investigate the management of colorectal cancer patients during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has affected our daily routine. We aimed to compare our results between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, and evaluate any seasonal differences within the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our retrospective study was conducted in a single center. We included all participants who had elective and emergency gastrointestinal operations due to colorectal cancer between March 2019 and March 2021. Participant data were separated and compared between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, with the latter divided into two groups (Group 1: Phase 1-2, Group 2: Phase 3).

There were no statistically significant differences between the cases treated before and during the COVID-19 pandemic period in terms of mean age, gender distribution, diagnosis, tumor location, American Society of Anesthetists (ASA) score, recurrence, or mortality (p>0.05). We found no differences between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods in admission to the hospital, surgical approach, need for stoma, complications, length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), total hospitalization, or tumor stage (p>0.05). However, we observed that the percentage of open surgical operations was statistically significantly higher, and the percentage of laparoscopic surgical operations was statistically significantly lower in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (p=0.020).

The pandemic periods should not be assessed with the same perspective. Treatment approaches can change according to hospital capacity during peak periods of COVID-19 disease.