IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC UPON THE OPHTHALMOLOGICAL CLINICAL PRACTICE

Introduction. With more than 1,000,000 infections around the world, SARS-Cov 2 is responsible for the most severe healthcare crisis in the last 100 years. Aim. The paper analyzes the impact of COVID 19 pandemic upon the current ophthalmological clinical activity. Materials and Method. A comparative analyses was carried regarding the clinical activity in March 2019 and March 2020: the number of one day hospitalizations, of continuous hospitalizations, the percentage of emergencies, the number of surgeries, bed turn over, mean hospital stay. The protocols for the health care personnel protection and decontamination were analyzed. Results. During March 2019, 381 patients were treated in the day hospitalization and 297 patients in the continuous hospitalization regime, with an average length of hospitalization of 3.2 days, and a bed turnover of 6.05. Of these, 76.43% underwent ophthalmic surgery and 14.1% represented ophthalmological emergencies. The comparative analysis shows that in March 2020, the number of one day hospitalizations decreased by 87.4%, and that of the hospitalizations continued with 89.2%. Of the patients admitted, 46.8% were in emergency. Clinical ophthalmological practice has been deeply changed in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic in order to prevent contamination both for patients and medical personnel. Conclusions. The ocular manifestations associated to SARS-Cov 2 infection are self-limited, but the possibility of infection due to the presence of the virus at the level of the tear secretion is an aspect that we must consider in the ophthalmological clinical practice.