Original Articles COVID 19 PANDEMIC IMPACT ON VARIATION OF DISEASE PATTERN ON HOSPITALIZATION OF ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY PATIENTS

Abstract

Background:

Because oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) comprises airway and aerosol-generating operations, this study seeks to demonstrate that OMFS is a high-risk specialty, which may be exacerbated significantly during the coronavirus outbreak in 2019 (COVID-19). This comparative study aimed to investigate whether COVID-19 affected the illness patterns of OMFS inpatients and surgical procedures
performed under general anesthesia.

Material and methods:

The archival records related to patient's admission and operation theatre of OMFS patients who were admitted between January 2019 and August 2020. It was estimated and compared to the previous year's numbers the number of patients in total, the disease patterns they presented, and the fraction of patients who received imperative and non-imperative medical treatments between 2019 and 2020.

Results:

They are based on 98 hospitalizations and 66 general anesthesia surgical operations during the research period. When comparing 2020 to the previous year, hospitalizations and procedures fell significantly (p = 0.012 and 0.007, respectively). Contrary to the previous year, cleft lip & palate and TMD, the number of malignancies grew dramatically and significantly. In 2020, the proportion of necessary
services to non-essential services increased statistically significantly compared to the same year in 2019.

Conclusion:

The findings of this study are among the pioneer in reporting data on the epidemiological effect of the corona pandemic on the OMFS illness pattern in Pakistan. A pandemic's impact on disease patterns and workload. Such pandemics impact patient care, education, and training on a long-term basis. In addition to other applications, health officials could use our findings to analyze resource mobility and optimize medical education and services