Evaluating the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on End Colostomy Formation

Aim: Intercollegiate guidance favoured increased stoma formation during the early phases of the Covid-19 pandemic due to uncertainty around the availability of critical care beds and the peri-operative impact of SARS-CoV-2. This study assessed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and changing guidance on end colostomy formation. Methods: Data were reviewed from a prospectively collected database on the number of end colostomies formed over a 10-month period from 1st March to 31st December 2020. Comparison was made with the same period in 2019. Details were confirmed using clinical letters. Results: There was an overall 11.5% increase in the number of end colostomies formed in the same 10-month period in 2020 compared with 2019 (87 vs 78). The increase in end colostomy formation was most marked in the 3-month period of March to May, with 36.8% more end colostomies formed in 2020 than in 2019 (26 vs 19). The number of end colostomies formed in the remaining 7-month period of June to December was similar in the two years (61 vs 59). Conclusions: There was a change in surgical practice in favour of stoma formation, which peaked in the period of March to May 2020. This coincided with a time of maximum uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and changing intercollegiate guidance. The change in practice has implications for patients longer term and may impact on the service in the post-Covid recovery period, with patients requesting reversal procedures.

Citation

Farrow, E., & Cook, T. (2021). Evaluating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on end colostomy formation. Colorectal Disease, 23(S1), 21–134. https://doi.org/10.1111/codi.15825

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/codi.15825

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14709/889

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