The influence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on in-hospital mortality in a gastroenterology service.

Introduction: The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has drastically changed the global health landscape. Our objective was to verify if, after the start of the pandemic, there was an increase in in-hospital mortality in patients admitted to a Gastroenterology Service of a 3rd level hospital.

Material And Methods: The 1039 admissions registered at the Virgen de la Victoria University Hospital in Malaga (Spain) were retrospectively analysed in the period between 1 December 2019 and 30 November 2020 (12 months), which were divided into 4 quarters (pre-wave, first wave, inter-wave and second wave) and mortality and other variables (globally and by disease group) were analysed.

Results: No statistically significant differences were observed in terms of overall in-hospital mortality in the different periods. (p 0.23). The greatest burden of disease corresponded to biliopancreatic group and, within them, acute pancreatitis (p 0.04), followed by non-variceal gastrointestinal bleeding. In the second semester, mortality increased in the biliopancreatic group (p 0.01). Patients admitted for gastrointestinal bleeding took longer to request care after the start of the pandemic, especially in the second wave (p 0.03). The same was observed in admissions due to tumours, with the time elapsed until the emergency visit more than double in the second semester, with a consequent increase in mortality (p 0.00).

Conclusions: The global in-hospital mortality in a Gastroenterology Service in a 3rd level hospital has not increased with the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, however, a higher in-hospital mortality has been recorded in biliopancreatic diseases and digestive tumours diagnosed on an in-patient basis between June and November 2020.