• World Neurosurg · Jul 2022

    Telemedicine in Neurosurgery during the COVID-19 Outbreak: Where We Are One Year Later.

    • Nikolaos Mouchtouris, Siyuan Yu, Giyarpuram Prashant, Nicolas Nelson, Maikerly Reyes, Glenn Gonzalez, Rupert Smit, Sarah Collopy, Pascal Jabbour, Ashwini Sharan, James Harrop, Robert Rosenwasser, and James J Evans.
    • Department of Neurosurgery, Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
    • World Neurosurg. 2022 Jul 1; 163: e83e88e83-e88.

    BackgroundTelemedicine use skyrocketed in March 2020 on implementation of shelter-in-place measures owing to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Within the past year, shelter-in-place measures were lifted and the COVID-19 vaccine was released, resulting in many neurosurgeons returning to in-person outpatient clinics. This study aimed to determine the extent of usage of telemedicine in neurosurgery 1 year into the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA retrospective cohort study of patients who received neurosurgical care at a single institution from February 1 to April 18 of the years 2020 and 2021 was performed. The inclusion criteria were met by 11,592 patients. During the 2 study periods, 1465 patients underwent surgery, 7083 were seen in clinic via an in-person meeting, and 3044 were assessed via telemedicine.ResultsAt 1 year after the COVID-19 outbreak, telemedicine usage was at 81.3% of the initial volume on implementation of shelter-in-place measures. In-person outpatient visits increased 40.2% from the early pandemic volume. Among the 4 neurosurgery divisions, telemedicine usage remained high in tumor and functional neurosurgery, significantly increased in vascular neurosurgery, and decreased in spine neurosurgery.ConclusionsTelemedicine use in neurosurgery clinics continues 1 year after the COVID-19 outbreak. Even after the lifting of shelter-in-place measures, many neurosurgeons still use telemedicine, while the operative volume remains stable. Owing to the limited physical examination that can be performed via current telemedicine platforms, telemedicine use in spine neurosurgery is lower than peak use during the early pandemic, while use has remained high among tumor, vascular, and functional neurosurgery.Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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