Methods
The study was approved by the local ethics committee. An announcement of
the study was sent to all Urology clinics across Turkey via e-mail and
social media. All of the centers that agreed to participate in the study
were included in the study. The number of outpatient and hospitalized
patients, emergency service consultations, urological surgeries
including transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TUR-BT),
transurethral resection of prostate (TURP), endoscopic urethrotomy,
ureterorenoscopy (URS), percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL), ureteral J
stent insertion, radical nephrectomy, radical nephroureterectomy,
radical prostatectomy (RP), radical cystectomy (RC), radical
orchiectomy, surgery for Fournier’s gangrene, acute scrotum, trauma
(kidney, bladder and testicle) and penile fracture; daily interventions
(prostate biopsy, shock wave lithotripsy, percutaneous nephrostomy and
cystostomy, intravesical treatments), and the number of pandemic
outpatient clinics were recorded week-by-week between the week that the
first Covid-19 patient was reported in our country, 9-15 March 2020, and
the week 25-31 May 2020 prospectively; as lock-down measures were gone
and the ‘new normal-life’ began in our country by 1stJune 2020. All of these variables were also recorded week-by-week at the
same time interval of the year 2019. Other surgical and diagnostic
approaches were not analyzed as guidelines regarding Covid-19 pandemic
suggested the postponement of nearly all surgeries for female urology,
andrology and some other elective surgical
operations.8,11-13 The centers were divided into three
groups as tertiary referral centers, state hospitals and private
practice hospitals. The weekly change of the workload of urology
throughout the pandemic period was evaluated; also the workload of
urology and the distributions of certain urological surgeries were
compared between the pandemic period and the same time interval of the
year 2019.