Patients avoided important care during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic: diverticulitis patients were more likely to present with an abscess on CT

ConclusionPatients with urgent health concerns avoided appropriate and necessary care during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. While non-COVID-19 emergency visits were diminished, patients who did present with diverticulitis were more likely to present with greater disease severity as manifested by an associated abscess. Patients must be encouraged to seek care when appropriate and need reassurance that hospitals and their emergency departments are safe to visit. Furthermore, emergency physicians and radiologists in particular should be vigilant during times when emergency volumes are low, such as a future surge in coronavirus patients, other pandemics, snow storms, and holidays as the patients who do present for care are more likely to present at later stages and with serious complications.
Source: Emergency Radiology - Category: Emergency Medicine Source Type: research