Trends of interventional radiology procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic: the first 27 weeks in the eye of the storm

Abstract

Objectives: While the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic looks to persist, institutions promote delaying procedures. Understanding trends and demands of interventional radiology (IR) procedures in the infected and COVID-free populations are needed in long-term planning. We detail IR procedure trends in the first 27 weeks of the pandemic and compare with the pre-pandemic era. Methods: In this IRB approved retrospective electronic case review, all IR patients in our institution from 1 January to 9 July 2020, the same period in 2019 pre-pandemic and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV) outbreak were included. IR procedures were classified using Interventional Radiology—Procedure Acuity Scale (IR-PAS) and category of IR procedures. Along with descriptive frequencies, the Mann–Whitney U test and Chi-square test of independence were performed. Results: During the pandemic, 3655 IR procedures were performed compared to 3851 procedures pre-pandemic. No statistically significant difference in weekly IR caseloads across IR-PAS tiers between both periods (p =.088) and category of procedure (p =.054) were noted. General intervention procedures remained the largest proportion and musculoskeletal procedures the minority, in both periods. More general intervention radiology and oncology procedures were performed during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the SARS-CoV outbreak. Thirty-four (0.93%) IR procedures were performed on 30 COVID-19 patients. There was no IR procedure-related COVID-19 cross-transmission. Conclusions: Demand for IR procedures among COVID-free patients remains high, and IR procedures involving COVID-19 represents a fraction of the IR caseload. A sustainable model in providing timely IR services to COVID-free patients needs to be considered.