Changes in Colorectal Cancer Practices during the Early COVID-19 Period

Objective: The aim of our study is to investigate the management of colorectal cancer patients during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has affected our daily routine. We aimed to compare our results between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, and evaluate any seasonal differences within the COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials and Methods: Our retrospective study was conducted in a single center. We included all participants who had elective and emergency gastrointestinal operations due to colorectal cancer between March 2019 and March 2021. Partic-ipant data were separated and compared between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, with the latter divided into two groups (Group 1: Phase 1–2, Group 2: Phase 3).
Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the cases treated before and during the COVID-19 pandemic period in terms of mean age, gender distribution, diagnosis, tumor location, American Society of Anesthetists (ASA) score, recurrence, or mortality (p>0.05). We found no differences between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods in admission to the hospital, surgical approach, need for stoma, complications, length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), total hospitalization, or tumor stage (p>0.05). However, we observed that the percentage of open surgical operations was statistically significantly higher, and the percentage of laparoscopic surgical operations was statistically significantly lower in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (p=0.020).
Conclusion: The pandemic periods should not be assessed with the same perspective. Treatment approaches can change according to hospital capacity during peak periods of COVID-19 disease.