Trends and Changes in Endoscopic Management and Clinical Outcomes of Colonic Diverticular Bleeding during the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic

Objectives: This study evaluated the endoscopic management and clinical outcomes of patients with colonic diverticular bleeding (CDB) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: A total of 388 hospitalized patients diagnosed with CDB at two hospitals during (April 2020-March 2023) and before (April 2017-March 2020) the pandemic were enrolled in the study. We performed one-to-one propensity score matching (PSM) on the participants. We analyzed endoscopic management and clinical outcomes before and during the pandemic using a total of 264 patients matched in a PSM analysis.

Results: A total of 213 (1.3%) and 172 (1.2%) colonoscopies were performed before and during the pandemic, respectively in patients with CDB (P = 0.70). After PSM, the number of early colonoscopies (63.6% vs. 76.5%, P = 0.03) and colonoscopies performed outside regular working hours (23.8% vs. 47.7%, P < 0.01) was significantly lower during the pandemic than before it. A univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the risks of rebleeding within 30 days (odds ratio [OR]: 0.81, P = 0.42) and composite outcome (OR: 0.90, P = 0.69) were not increased during the pandemic.

Conclusions: During the pandemic, the number of early colonoscopies and colonoscopies performed outside regular working hours decreased; however, this decrease did not influence rebleeding and composite outcome in patients with CDB.