Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Care Utilization and Outcomes in Pediatric Patients with Intussusception.

BACKGROUND

We determined whether a decrease in healthcare utilization patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the treatment process of pediatric patients with intussusception.

METHODS

Patients with suspected intussusception who had ICD-10 code K561 as their discharge diagnosis from the national database were selected, and those who underwent either radiologic and/or surgical reduction were defined as true intussusception patients. We compared the time periods from patients visiting the ED to ultrasound, radiologic reduction and/or surgical reduction between the study group (first half of 2020, COVID-19 period) and the control groups (control group 1: first half of 2019, control group 2: second half of 2019).

RESULTS

The number of suspected intussusception patients in each group was 1223, 1576, and 624, and the incidence rates were 7.85, 11.30, and 4.19 per 100,000 person-half-years (control group 1, control group 2, study group, respectively, p < 0.05). No differences in terms of the time from the ED visit to ultrasound, radiological reduction and/or surgical reduction were noted between the study group and the control groups.

CONCLUSIONS

In Korea, the COVID-19 pandemic did not significantly affect the ED treatment process or the results of patients with intussusception.