Negative Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Kidney Disease Management-A Single-Center Experience in Romania

Background: The evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic affected healthcare systems worldwide. The patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes, and cardiovascular disease were most affected and had an unfavorable outcome. Methods: We examined the activity of the Nephrology Department from Targu-Mures County Emergency Hospital retrospectively, comparing two periods: June 2020-November 2021 (COVID-19 period) and June 2018-November 2019 (non-COVID-19 period). Results: In the COVID-19 period, there were fewer one-day hospitalizations registered, 77.27% more dialysis catheters were installed, and 43.75% more arteriovenous fistulas were performed. An overall increase in the number of patients requiring dialysis during the pandemic was recorded, as of the number of dialysis sessions performed. Moreover, we observed a statistically significant increase in the number of dialysis sessions per patient and a statistically significant increase in the number of hospitalization days in the pandemic interval. Acute kidney injury (AKI) and urosepsis were the diagnoses that increased the most among in-patients during the pandemic, while all other nephrology diagnoses decreased. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated kidney pathology and worsened the outcomes of nephrology patients in our center. The number of chronic and patient's access to one-day hospitalization decreased in order to minimalize the exposure and the risk of infection. In contrast, the need for emergency dialysis increased significantly.