Regional Survey in Lombardy, Northern Italy, on Vascular Surgery Intervention Outcomes During The COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective The characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing vascular surgery hospitalised and managed in Lombardy are described with a comparison of patients tested positive for COVID-19 (CV19-pos) vs. those tested negative (CV19-neg). Methods This was a multicentre, retrospective, observational cohort study which involved all vascular surgery services in Lombardy, Northern Italy. Data were retrospectively merged into a combined dataset covering the nine weeks of the Italian COVID-19 pandemic phase 1 (8 March 2020 to 3 May 2020). The primary outcome was freedom from in hospital death, secondary outcomes were re-thrombosis rate after peripheral revascularisation, and freedom from post-operative complication. Results Among 674 patients managed during the outbreak, 659 (97.8%) were included in the final analysis: 121 (18.4%) were CV19-pos. CV19-pos status was associated with a higher rate of complications (OR 4.5; p 80 years (OR 3.2; p = .001, 95% CI 1.61 – 6.57) to be predictors of in hospital death. Conclusion In this experience of the vascular surgery group of Lombardy, COVID-19 infection was a marker of poor outcomes in terms of mortality and post-operative complications for patients undergoing vascular surgery treatments.