Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Interventional Radiology Practice—A Multicenter Observational Study

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to health care services including interventional radiology (IR). Treating COVID-19 infected patients became a priority; furthermore, government policies of differing elective procedures and the public’s fear of contacting COVID-19 have impacted IR workload worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the workflow in six vascular IR centers located across India.Methods The data were collected retrospectively from April 1 to June 30, 2020. All the six centers were staffed by the alumni of a single parent center located in India. Data was also collected from the same time period in 2019 for comparison.Results A total of 893 patients were treated from April 1 to June 30, 2019, and 419 were treated during the same period in 2020 during the pandemic, a 53% case volume reduction (95% CI:28. 56–129.44; p < 0.001). The month of April had the largest case volume reduction (66%, 95% CI: 13.57–50.43; p < 0.001). Elective procedures showed an 85% reduction (95% CI: 9.62–91.71; p < 0.001). Venous interventions showed the highest reduction of 76% (95% CI: 0.75–67.75; p < 0.001). Neurological emergencies, dialysis-related interventions, and nonvascular procedures did not show a significant change. No patient tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the procedure; however, one patient who was treated emergently was found to be positive later.Conclusion COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted IR practice across India. Workload reduction was more profound at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with a gradual improvement over time.