Impact of containment following COVID -19 on hospitalization activities in the pediatric surgical emergencies department, children’s hospital of Rabat

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has put stress on the healthcare system with a major impact on access to healthcare. The aim is to study the impact of containment on the hospitalization of children in the pediatric surgical emergency department, Children’s Hospital of Rabat. Material and methods: A retrospective study was carried out of children admitted at the Pediatric Surgical Emergencies Department (PSE), over a period of 6 months. The data were entered and analyzed by statistical software Jamovi 1.6.23. A chi-square test was used to compare the variables between the two periods: before and during containment. Results: We identified 579 children hospitalized during the first semester of 2020. The median age was 5 years [1-10] with predominance of boys (66.1%). Admission diagnosis are represented by abdominal emergencies (36.8%), head trauma (22.6%). Burns represent only 5,7%. These diagnosis were divided into visceral surgical emergencies (42%), trauma emergencies (48%) and non-urgent pathologies (10%). Surgery was done in 45.6%. Visceral and trauma emergencies were equivalent before and during the containment. On the other hand, there was a slight increase for visceral emergencies (57% Vs 43%) while the number of scheduled patients fell from 94.3% before containment to 5,7% during the containment.

Keywords

• covid19
• hospitalization
• confinement
• children
• morocco