Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on acute otolaryngology inpatient activity at a tertiary referral centre: A retrospective analysis.

Objective: To determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on acute admissions and inpatient activity at a tertiary referral centre.

Design: Retrospective review of coding-based inpatient electronic records.

Setting: An otolaryngology and head and neck surgery department at a major UK trauma and tertiary referral centre.

Participants: Otolaryngology patients admitted as an emergency over a period of 10 months pre-COVID19 (01/04/2019-23/01/2020) and 10 months post-COVID19 (01/04/2020-23/01/2021).

Main Outcome Measures: Baseline characteristics, admission rates, length of stay (LoS), overall mortality and 30-day mortality.

Results: A total of 1620 records were reviewed; (1066 pre-COVID19, 554 post-COVID19). Admissions across all age groups were reduced, with an increase in mean age from 39.88 to 47.4 years (p = .018). LoS remained unchanged (3.85 vs 3.82 days, p = .160). Infection remained the most common presentation, followed secondly by epistaxis which entailed an increased LoS compared to the pre-COVID19 cohort. GP referrals reduced from 18.3% to 4.2% (n = 195 vs n = 23, p < .001) and ED referrals proportionally increased from 71.9% to 85.9% (n = 766 vs n = 476, p < .001). Critical care admissions were higher in the post-COVID19 cohort (OR 1.78 (1.07-2.98) [95% CI], p = .027). There was no significant difference in overall mortality between groups (n = 60, 5.6% vs. n = 33, 6.0%; p = .844). Thirty-day mortality increased from 0.9% (n = 12) pre-COVID19 to 2.3% (n = 13) post-COVID19 (p = .039).

Conclusions: This study demonstrates significant changes and a reduction in acute otolaryngology presentations. Our findings may suggest that sicker, frailer patients were admitted during the pandemic. This study reports the observational effect that the pandemic has had on acute otolaryngology admissions, which may be relevant in addressing unmet care needs in the post-pandemic period.