ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Intensive Care Medicine and Anesthesiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1548043
This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing Public Health Workforce Competencies: AI Integration and Post-Pandemic Educational ReformsView all 6 articles
Trends in surgery and Anesthesia Practices during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Nationwide Analysis from South Korea's Health Insurance Database
Provisionally accepted
- Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to significant changes to global healthcare systems, particularly affecting surgical and anesthetic practices. This study investigated nationwide trend in anesthesia and surgery before and during the pandemic.Methods: This retrospective, population-based study analyzed confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Korean National Health Information Database from 2019 to 2021. Anesthesia proceures were categorized into general anesthesia, regional anesthesia, and monitored anesthesia care (MAC). COVID-19 positive patients were defined as those with a confirmed diagnosis within 30 days before and after surgery. We analyzed anesthesia modality, patient characteristics, hospital type and COVID-19 trends.Results: A total of 6,878,556 anesthesia procedures were recorded. The number of procedures decreased slightly in 2020 but increased in 2021. General anesthesia accounted for the majority of procedures. Regional anesthesia, especially brachial plexus block (BPB), and MAC showed an increasing trend. There was a positive correlation between monthly COVID-19 case counts and surgical volume. Most COVID-19 positive patients underwent surgery in general hospitals and received general anesthesia.Despite the pandemic, overall surgical volume in South Korea remained relatively stable compared to global trends. The shift toward regional techniques like BPB suggests adaptation to reduce aerosol-generating procedures. These findings highlight the need for strategic allocation of resources and preparedness planning in future pandemics.
Keywords: COVID-19, Surgery, Anesthesia, healthcare, pandemic
Received: 22 Dec 2024; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ahn, Kim and BANG. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: SIRA BANG, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.