The Challenges in Neurosurgery during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

Abstract

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created a global crisis unique to the health care system around the world. It also had a profound impact on the management of neurosurgical patients. In our research, we intended to investigate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on neurosurgery, particular including vascular and oncological neurosurgery. Method Two investigators independently and systematically searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) to identify relevant studies respecting the criteria for inclusion and exclusion published up to June 30th, 2022. The outcomes of our research including mortality rate, length of stay, modified Rankin Score, delay in care, Glasgow outcome scale and major complications. Results Two investigators independently and systematically searched 1270 results from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane database, and extracted the detailed data from 13 articles assessed for eligibility, including 2 intracerebral hemorrhage, five subarachnoid hemorrhage, two neuro-oncology and 2 unspecified neurosurgery. A total of 25,864 patients were included in our research. Conclusion Some of our included studies suggested that pandemic caused negative effect on the outcomes of neurosurgery while others suggested that the pandemic didn't cause significant effect on the neurosurgery. Meanwhile, the effect of pandemic on neurosurgery may differ from different region.