HealthDay Reports: COVID-19 Will Delay 28 Million Elective Surgeries Worldwide — Study
Canceling elective surgeries helps reduce the risk of patients being exposed to COVID-19 in the hospital and allows hospitals to use operating rooms as additional ICUs to take care of sick patients.
COVID-19 Will Delay 28 Million Elective Surgeries Worldwide: Study
MONDAY, May 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The coronavirus pandemic could scuttle more than 28 million elective surgeries across the globe this year, according to a new study.
British researchers gathered information from surgeons at 359 hospitals in 71 countries about elective surgery plans, and used that data in a statistical model to estimate numbers in 190 countries.
Based on a 12-week period of peak disruption to hospital services caused by the pandemic, 28.4 million elective surgeries worldwide could be canceled or postponed in 2020, the study found. Each additional week of hospital service disruption would cause 2.4 more million cancellations.