CHANGES IN THE DEMOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL FEATURES OF COLORECTAL CARCINOMA CASES FOLLOWING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to compare the demographic, clinical and pathological features of patients with colorectal carcinomas presenting before and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods Subjects presenting from 9 months prior to and those presenting within the first 9 months of the pandemic were included in the study. The primary outcome measure of this study was the difference in the clinical and pathological features of the patients with invasive colorectal carcinomas during the two periods. Results Pre-pandemic and post-pandemic patients were similar with respect to age, gender, tumor location, tumor size, lymph node invasion, differentiation, presence of synchronous tumor, radial and distal surgical margin positivity, perineural and lymphovascular invasion, TNM stage, and liver metastasis and recurrence. Although the difference was not statistically significant when compared to the pre-pandemic period, we identified 3 patients (4.7%) with ileus and 2 patients with tumor perforation (3.2%) among post-pandemic patients. Conclusions Our findings show a slight decrease in the number of patients undergoing surgery for colorectal carcinomas in the post-pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period, probably due to the structural changes in health-care organization in hospitals and patients’ hesitation to apply for healthcare due to possible infection with SARS-CoV-2. It is evident that healthcare systems should strive to find new ways to manage serious clinical conditions such as malignancies during the Covid-19 pandemic.