The change of clinical features and surgical outcomes in patients with pressure injury during the COVID-19 pandemic

This retrospective study aims to explore whether the COVID-19 pandemic altered patient conditions and surgery outcomes by studying 213 pressure injury (PI) patients who underwent surgery during 2016 to 2019 (pre-COVID) and 2020 to 2021 (COVID) in Taiwan. We extracted patient demographics, surgical and blood test records, preoperative vital signs, and flap surgery outcomes. In total, 464 surgeries were performed, including 308 pre-COVID and 156 COVID. During the COVID period, there were more patients presenting with dementia, and it had significantly more patients with >12 000 white blood cells/μL (24.03% vs 15.59%, P = 0.029), higher C-reactive protein levels (7.13 ± 6.36 vs 5.58 ± 5.09 mg/dL, P = 0.014), pulse rates (86.67 ± 14.76 vs 81.26 ± 13.66 beats/min, P < 0.001), and respiratory rates (17.87 ± 1.98 vs 17.31 ± 2.39 breaths/min, P = 0.009) but lower haemoglobin levels (9.75 ± 2.02 vs 10.43 ± 1.67 mg/dL, P < 0.001) preoperatively. There were no between-group differences in flap surgery outcomes but had fewer flap surgeries during COVID-19. Thus, PI patient condition was generally poor during the COVID-19 pandemic because of reduced access to medical treatment; this problem may be resolved through holistic care during a future pandemic or pandemic-like situation.