Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the surgical treatment of a patient with colorectal carcinoma

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Utjecaj COVID-19 pandemije na kirurško liječenje pacijenata s kolorektalnim karcinomom
• Author: Antonio Pudić
• Mentor: Petar Matošević (mentor)
• Committee member: Petar Matošević (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Goran Augustin (član povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Tomislav Meštrović (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; School of Medicine; Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2023-07-13, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE; Clinical Medical Sciences; Surgery

Abstract

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC), also called large bowel cancer, is a malignant neoplasm of the mucosal lining of the colon, rectum, or both. Colorectal cancer has been investigated for decades and despite of the scientific effort or the fast-developing new medical technologies, this disease, which demonstrates a very complex and multifactorial set of causes in its development, remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality globally. In March 2020 the WHO declared the infection with SARS-Cov-2 and the related COVID-19 a pandemic with exponential increase of infection rates and fast spread throughout the whole world, quickly becoming a global health threat and at the same time impacting health care system on multiple levels. Countries adapted to the high numbers of COVID-19 patients in need of medical care with a shift of resources from other medical specialties towards the management and research of the viral disease. Governments in cooperation with various professional medical societies established public health and social measures (PHSM) in order to mitigate further spread and thereby decrease the pressure of the pandemic on the health care systems. However, medical care for cancer patients in general has been compromised by means of decreasing patients encounters in the primary sector, seizing of cancer screening, delays of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, decreasing surgery volumes, etc. and by that potentially impacting the outcome, defined as overall survival (OS) and quality of life (QoL), of these patients.

This graduate thesis outlines the current knowledge of colorectal carcinoma and analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the surgical treatment of patients with colorectal carcinoma (CRC) by presenting data from different regions with high prevalence of CRC in order to make a statement on whether and how the pandemic impacted the preoperative characteristics of patients (e.g. ASA-score and stage of cancer at time of treatment) and different parts of the treatment of CRC patients.

Abstract (croatian)

Kolorektalni karcinom, koji se naziva i rak debelog crijeva, zloćudna je neoplazma sluznice debelog crijeva, rektuma ili oboje. Rak debelog crijeva istražuje se desetljećima i unatoč znanstvenim naporima ili brzom razvoju novih medicinskih tehnologija, ova bolest, koja pokazuje vrlo složen i multifaktorski skup uzroka u svom razvoju, ostaje važan uzrok morbiditeta i mortaliteta na globalnoj razini. U ožujku 2020. godine WHO je infekciju SARSCov- 2 i povezanim COVID-19 proglasio pandemijom s eksponencijalnim porastom stope zaraze sa brzim širenjem po cijelom svijetu, brzo postajući globalna prijetnja zdravlju i istovremeno utječući na zdravstvenu skrb pacijenata. Zemlje su se prilagodile velikom broju pacijenata s COVID-19 kojima je potrebna medicinska skrb preusmjeravanjem resursa s drugih medicinskih specijalnosti na liječenje i istraživanje virusne bolesti. Vlade su u suradnji s raznim stručnim medicinskim društvima uspostavile javnozdravstvene i socijalne mjere kako bi ublažile daljnje širenje i time smanjile pritisak pandemije na zdravstvene sustave. Međutim, medicinska skrb za oboljele od raka općenito je ugrožena smanjenjem broja pacijenata u primarnom sektoru, obustavom probira raka, kašnjenjem dijagnostičkih i terapijskih postupaka, smanjenjem volumena kirurških zahvata itd., a time potencijalno utječući na ishod, definiran kao ukupno preživljenje i kvaliteta života, ovih pacijenata.

Ovaj diplomski rad ocrtava dosadašnje spoznaje o kolorektalnom karcinomu i analizira utjecaj COVID-19-pandemije na kirurško liječenje bolesnika s kolorektalnim karcinomom reprezentirajući podatke iz različitih regija s visokom prevalencijom kolorektalnog karcinoma kako bi se dala izjava je li i kako pandemija utjecala na predoperativne karakteristike bolesnika (npr. ASA-score i stadij raka u vrijeme liječenja) i različite dijelove liječenja bolesnika s kolorektalnim karcinomom.

• Keywords: Colorectal carcinoma; COVID-19 pandemic; Colorectal surgery; Surgical treatment and management of CRC
• Keywords (croatian): Kolorektalni karcinom; COVID-19-pandemija; Kolorektalna kirurgija; Kirurško liječenje kolorektalnog karcinoma
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:105:776167
• Study programme: Title: Medicine; Study programme type: university; Study level: integrated undergraduate and graduate; Academic / professional title: doktor/doktorica medicine (doktor/doktorica medicine)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2023-09-01 12:01:24