Problematics of neurosurgical service during the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 that still poses an important and urgent threat to global health. In Slovenia, the epidemic was declared on March 12^th, 2020, and since then COVID-19 has had a great impact on our health system. The field of neurosurgery in particular has been experiencing difficulties in both elective and emergency service. In this article, we described epidemiologic protocols and the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the surgical practice and workflow of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana. We analyzed and compared the number of elective and emergency neurosurgical procedures in a 2-year period before and during the pandemic. We recorded a drop in cases mostly on account of elective procedures whilst emergency service remained relatively unaffected.

Keywords: Neurosurgery; COVID-19; Pandemic; Epidemic measures; Slovenia; Ljubljana

Core Tip: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 that poses an important and urgent threat to global health and has had a great impact on the health system in Slovenia. In this article, we described epidemiologic protocols and the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the surgical practice and workflow of the Department of Neurosurgery at University Medical Centre Ljubljana.