Open AccessTraumatic Brain Injury during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Juliette A.L. Santing,
Crispijn L van den Brand,
Korné Jellema
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
neurotrauma reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2689-288X
DOI - 10.1089/neur.2020.0001
Subject(s) - pandemic , traumatic brain injury , covid-19 , medicine , attendance , emergency department , emergency medicine , medical emergency , pediatrics , psychiatry , virology , disease , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economics , economic growth
Emergency departments (EDs) are eerily quiet for illnesses apart from COVID-19. In this short communication, we assessed the effect of COVID-19 on ED attendance rates for traumatic brain injury (TBI). Data were collected from all consecutive patients with TBI attending our hospital (Haaglanden Medical Center, The Hague, The Netherlands) during the first 3 weeks of the Dutch lockdown (from March 18 to April 6) and for the same period last year. We observed a 36% decrease in ED attendance for TBI since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (91 vs. 143). Patients who presented during the lockdown were significantly older compared with the patients who visited the ED in the previous year (72 vs. 57, p = 0.01). No other significant differences were found.