Consequences of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on urological surgery in France: a nationwide analysis of the healthcare system database

The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak overwhelmed the healthcare systems worldwide. Saturation of hospitals and the risk of contagion led to a reduction in the care of other diseases.

Objective: To determine the impact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on urological surgery in France during the year 2020.

Design, setting and participants: An observational descriptive study was conducted on anonymised data collected from the national healthcare database established each year as part of the Program for the Medicalization of Information Systems in Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Odontology.

Intervention: None.

Primary and secondary outcome measures: We gathered the number of urology surgical procedures carried out between 2010 and 2019, and we observed the difference between the forecast and actual number of urological surgeries performed in 2020.

Results: Urological surgeries decreased by 11.4%, non-oncological surgeries being more affected (-13.1%) than oncological ones (-4.1%). Among the most relevant surgeries, female urinary incontinence (-44.7%) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (-20.8%) were the most impacted ones, followed by kidney cancer (-9%), urolithiasis (-8.7%), radical cystectomy for bladder cancer (-6.1%), prostate cancer (-3.6%) and transurethral resection of bladder tumour (-2%). Public hospitals had a more reduced activity (-17.7%) than private ones (-9.1%). Finally, the distribution of the reduction in urological activities by region did not correspond to the regional burden of SARS-CoV-2.

Conclusions: Urological care was severely affected during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Even if oncological surgeries were prioritised, the longer it takes to receive appropriate care, the greater the risk on survival impact.

Trial registration: The data collection and analysis was authorised by the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) under the number1 861 282v2.