{
  "abstract": "This audit aimed to determine whether the pattern of presenting abdominal pathology, procedures performed, and clinical outcomes in our surgical intensive care unit (SICU) changed during the COVID-19 period. We reviewed a total of 356 patients who were admitted to the SICU with 1st March 2020 taken as the reference cutoff date. Two hundred and five (57.6%) cases occurred in the Pre-COVID interval and 151 (42.4%) in the Post-COVID interval. Patients admitted to SICU Post-COVID were significantly older than those admitted Pre-COVID (54.2 vs. 48.3 years, p = 0.005). Hospital and SICU length of stay were unchanged across the pandemic (p = 0.824 and 0.601 respectively). The procedure case-mix shifted significantly (p = 0.014): appendectomy, gastrectomy/sleeve gastrectomy and thoracic procedures fell, while exploratory laparotomy rose, consistent with reduced elective/minimally-invasive activity and a shift toward emergency open surgery. Appendiceal disease was recorded significantly less often as the presenting diagnosis Post-COVID (p = 0.016), and intestinal obstruction showed a non-significant upward trend (p = 0.071). SICU mortality and overall admission outcome were unchanged across the pandemic (p = 1.000 and 0.664).",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "FMH College of Medicine & Dentistry"
  ],
  "article_type": "PUBLISHAHEADOFPRINT",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "S. M. H. Ali"
    },
    {
      "name": "U. Yasin"
    },
    {
      "name": "O. Ather"
    },
    {
      "name": "A. Malik"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dysv0gv1ef8z8.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.02.26361948",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.26361948v1.full",
  "id": "dysv0gv1ef8z8",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.26361948v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "medrxiv",
      "surgery"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2730|COVID-19 and healthcare impacts"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7211904558",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.26361948v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-02",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dysv0gv1ef8z8.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:51Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.02.26361948",
      "source": "medrxiv",
      "url": "https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.26361948v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "medrxiv:surgery",
      "subfield": "surgery"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Surgical Critical Care Outcomes Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Single-Center Retrospective Comparative Audit",
  "title_text": "Surgical Critical Care Outcomes Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Single-Center Retrospective Comparative Audit",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:51Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dysv0gv1ef8z8",
  "venue": "medRxiv",
  "versions": []
}