• Mitchell D Kilgore, Tyler Scullen, Mansour Mathkour, Rishawn Dindial, Christopher Carr, Tyler Zeoli, Cassidy Werner, Lora Kahn, Cuong J Bui, Joseph R Keen, Christopher M Maulucci, and Aaron S Dumont.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2021 Jul 1; 151: e68e77e68-e77.

BackgroundMedical subspecialties including neurosurgery have seen a dramatic shift in operative volume in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The goal of this study was to quantify the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on operative volume at 2 academic neurosurgery centers in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA from equivalent periods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA retrospective review was conducted analyzing neurosurgical case records for 2 tertiary academic centers from March to June 2020 and March to June 2019. The records were reviewed for variables including institution and physician coverage, operative volume by month and year, cases per subspecialty, patient demographics, mortality, and morbidity.ResultsComparison of groups showed a 34% reduction in monthly neurosurgical volume per institution during the pandemic compared with earlier time points, including a 77% decrease during April 2020. There was no change in mortality and morbidity across institutions during the pandemic.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on neurosurgical practice and will likely continue to have long-term effects on patients at a time when global gross domestic products decrease and relative health expenditures increase. Clinicians must anticipate and actively prepare for these impacts in the future.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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