• Alan F Utria, Patrick J Javid, Jingyang Chen, and Samuel E Rice-Townsend.
• Department of Pediatric General & Thoracic Surgery, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA.
• Am. J. Surg. 2021 Jun 1; 221 (6): 1259-1261.

IntroductionIn March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to overwhelm entire healthcare systems. Here we characterize changes in surgical volumes at a regional tertiary pediatric hospital during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsData on all procedures performed during the state-wide ban on elective procedures (March 19th, 2020 to May 18th, 2020) that required anesthesia involvement were collected retrospectively and compared to the same time period in 2019.ResultsA total of 5785 procedures were performed: 4005 (69%) in 2019, and 1780 (31%) in 2020, representing a 55% decrease in total cases. The percentage decrease was disproportionate across surgical services. Add-on cases increased from 23% to 39%, and outpatient procedures decreased from 60% to 27%.DiscussionThe ban on elective procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant decrease in the volume of procedures performed at a tertiary pediatric hospital that differed among surgical services.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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