The impact of the first and the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on vascular surgery practice in the leading regional center: a comparative, retrospective study.

Background: We conducted an analysis of the vascular surgery regional center reorganization in response to the first and the second wave of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to see what lessons we learned from the first wave.

Methods: The study included a total of 632 patients admitted to the vascular surgery department in three periods: March-May 2020, October-December 2020, and October-December 2019 as a control period.

Results: In the pandemic periods the number of admitted patients decreased in relation to the control period. There was a reduction in performed procedures. We observed an increase in the ratio of less invasive procedures. There was a significant decline in hospitalization time in comparison to the control period.

Conclusions: The reduction of scheduled admissions and procedures affected vascular centers all over the world. Minimally invasive procedures were more willingly performed to shorten the hospitalization time and reduce the patient's exposure to hospital infection. It allowed us to treat more patients during the second wave. Nevertheless, an increased number of vascular patients should be expected in the future, which will result from the failure to perform elective procedures during the pandemic.