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Rates of timely paracentesis for patients admitted to hospital with cirrhosis and ascites remain low but are unaffected by the COVID‐19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Aby Elizabeth S.,
Lall Drishti,
Vasdev Amrit,
Mayer Adam,
Olson Andrew P. J.,
Lim Nicholas
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of hospital medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.128
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1553-5606
pISSN - 1553-5592
DOI - 10.1002/jhm.12797
Subject(s) - medicine , paracentesis , ascites , cirrhosis , pandemic , covid-19 , intensive care medicine , gastroenterology , emergency medicine , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
For the first 6 months of the novel coronavirus‐19 (COVID‐19) pandemic, the hospital medicine procedure service at our center was temporarily unavailable. We assessed paracentesis rates and clinical outcomes for patients admitted with cirrhosis and ascites before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Two hundred and twenty‐four and 131 patients with cirrhosis and ascited were admitted to hospital before and during COVID‐19 respectively. Approximately 50.9% and 49.6% of patients underwent a paracentesis within 24 h pre‐ and mid‐pandemic, p = .83. No differences were observed for length‐of‐stay or 30‐day readmissions. GI consultation was associated with higher rates of paracentesis in both eras ( p < .001 pre‐COVID‐19, and p = .01 COVID‐19). Changes due to the COVID‐19 pandemic did not result in changes to rates of timely paracentesis in patients admitted with cirrhosis and ascites. While involvement of gastroenterology may increase rates of paracentesis, further efforts are needed to optimize rates of timely paracentesis to positively impact clinical outcomes.