The effect of COVID-19 on diabetic foot ulcer surgery at a safety net hospital.

BACKGROUND

Management of diabetic foot ulcers requires detailed and continuous work. Social distancing and lockdown restrictions instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 were essential to saving lives and preventing hospital overflow, but they caused many difficulties for patients and health care providers.

OBJECTIVE

To show the changes in wound care surgery affected by COVID-19 at a safety net hospital.

METHODS

All ulcer-related surgeries performed at a single institution from March 2018 through February 2023-that is, 2 years before, the year of, and 2 years after the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic-were reviewed. Because the imposed outpatient and elective surgery restrictions started in March 2020, the period from March through February was used for the review. Wound-related surgeries included wound debridement, incision and drainage, exostectomy, digit amputations, midfoot amputations, and major amputations.

RESULTS

During the entire period, 1858 ulcer-related surgeries were performed at the authors' institution. A total of 723 surgeries were performed in the 2 years before COVID (pre), with 368 performed in the initial year of COVID (Covid) and 767 in the 2 years after the first year of the pandemic (post).

CONCLUSION

COVID-19 significantly impacted various aspects of ulcer management at the clinic. The authors' wound clinic remained open on a limited basis, and the number of patients seen was markedly lower. After the restrictions were lifted, wound care visits remained significantly lower than the pre-pandemic level; the fear of COVID-19 had a lasting impact on the number of visits. The number of exostectomy and digit amputations has increased since the first year of the pandemic. Midfoot amputation and major amputation did not change much after the initial year of the pandemic, which may be due to death from COVID-19. The fear and death associated with COVID-19 affected wound care and continue to affect wound care and limb salvage, but determining the actual number affected is challenging.