TP10.1.9End Colostomy Formation: Change in Practice during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Aim Intercollegiate guidance favoured the increased stoma formation during the early phases of the Covid-19 pandemic due to uncertainty around the availability of critical care beds and peri-operative impact of SARS-CoV-2. This study assessed the impact the Covid-19 pandemic and changing guidance had on end colostomy formation. Methods Data were reviewed from a prospectively collected database on the number of end colostomies formed over a 10-month period from 1st March to 31st December 2020. Comparison was made with the same period in 2019. Details were confirmed using clinical letters. Results There was an overall 11.5% increase in the number of end colostomies formed in the in the same 10-month period in 2020 compared with 2019 (87 vs 78). The increase in end colostomy formation was most marked in the 3-month period of March to May, with 36.8% more end colostomies formed in 2020 than in 2019 (26 vs 19). The number of end colostomies formed in the remaining 7-month period of June to December was similar in the two years (61 vs 59). Conclusions There was a change in surgical practice in favour of stoma formation, which peaked in the period of March to May 2020. This coincided with a time of maximum uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and changing intercollegiate guidance. The change in practice has implications for patients longer term and may impact on the service in the post-Covid recovery period with patients requesting reversal procedures.