Similar to operative frequency, “ excision of lesion of meninges of brain ” and “ excision of lesion of tissue of brain ” demonstrated a decreasing trend in postoperative LOS across the study period, the latter of which decreased only in the past four years. “ Biopsy of lesion of nervous system ” demonstrated a stable median LOS over the decade [Supplementary Figure 3 ].
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Temporal trends in neurosurgical volume and length of stay in a public healthcare system: A decade in review with a focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Of the 6 sub-specialties, spine, neuro-oncology, SB , and CSF procedures all showed a significant trend toward decreasing frequency.
Analysis of the most common procedure type, “ carpal tunnel release ,” revealed a slight trend toward decreasing frequency, though this was not significant.
In terms of LOS, both “ lumbar decompression ” and “ anterior cervical discectomy and fusion ” maintained a relatively static median LOS (though the latter was noted to have a slightly increasing trend), while “ excision of lumbar intervertebral disc ” and “ lumbar fusion ” demonstrated a decreasing median LOS, with the former showing a drastic drop between the years 2015 and 2016 which was accompanied by a shift to performing >50% of these as day case surgeries [Supplementary Figure 2 ].
“ Excision of lesion of tissue of brain ” operations, however, demonstrated an increasing trend up until the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, where the frequency decreased and has remained lower than the pre-pandemic 2019 levels.