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    Effects of Covid-19 pandemic on algology practice: single-center clinical study results
    (2023) Uyar, Meltem; Yılmaz, Hüsnü; Özalp Horasanlı, Burcu; Özgül, Kazım Koray; Eyigör, Can
    Aim: During the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of patients examined in the outpatient clinic of many health institutions was limited and some changes were made in the treatment protocols. Regional Anesthesia and Pain Associations also recommended steroid administration and opioid use restriction, especially in chronic pain. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical diagnosis of the patients who applied to our clinic with complaints of pain, the treatments they received, and whether our approach to chronic pain was by the guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Material and Methods: Demographic data, clinical diagnoses, interventional procedures, and medical treatments given to the patients who applied to the Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Algology Department outpatient clinic between March 2020 and May 2021 were evaluated statistically by retrospective analysis. Results: The mean age of 444 patients included in the study was 56.8±15.9 years. It was found that 29 (6.5%) of the patients applied for acute pain and 415 patients (93.5%) for chronic pain. While the number of patients who received only pharmacological treatment was 230 (51.8%), it was determined that 199 (44.8%) patients received both pharmacological treatment and interventional procedure, and 15 (3.3%) patients received only interventional procedure. When the patients were investigated in terms of pharmacological treatment, we observed that 229 (57.1%) patients received only paracetamol treatment, 99 (24.6%) patients received only non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAI) drug therapy, and 73 (18.2%) patients received both paracetamol and NSAI therapy. It was determined that 243 (96.8%) of the patients who received medical treatment received weak opioids, 3 (1.3%) patients received strong opioids, and 5 (1.9%) patients received both weak and strong combined opioid treatment. Steroid injection was observed in only 16.3% of 214 patients who underwent interventional procedures. Conclusion: It was observed that chronic pain patients were in the majority during the pandemic period and the use of strong opioids and steroid injections were minimized in these patients. Since it may cause changes in immune responses, applications that will pose the least risk in pain patients should be chosen during the pandemic period.