Long term Implications in Surgical re-Assisting (L.I.S.A. study) during the Covid-19 outbreak. A retrospective observational cohort study on a rural population.

Background: COVID-19 is having a worldwide impact on surgical treatment. Our aim was to investigate the impact of the pandemic in a rural hospital serving a low densely populated area.

Methods: We investigated the volume and type of surgical performed operations during both the pandemic (March 2020 - February 2021) and pre-pandemic periods (March 2019 - February 2020) as well as during the first and second pandemic waves compared to the pre-pandemic period.