The flow pattern of neuro-pediatric emergency visits during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract Background COVID-19 is a global pandemic that has highly impacted the healthcare system and patients, especially patients with epilepsy, due to the fact that the success of their treatment depends on obtaining sustainable access to medical professions, diagnostic services, facilities, and medications. The epidemiology and presence of neuro-pediatric emergencies in the setting of COVID-19 in XXX have not been thoroughly described. This is a barrier to planning and providing quality emergency care within the local health systems. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive description of the epidemiology of neurological cases encountered in the pediatric emergency unit. Methods This is a retrospective study to analyze the flow pattern of Emergency Department (ED) visits among pediatric patients with neuro-related complaints. Participants were filtered, and a total of 108,000 visits were reduced to 960 patients with a neurological provisional diagnosis. Patients were grouped into pre- and post-pandemic visits according to their age group. We identified demographic and clinical variables. Results The study included 960 patients with a provisional neurological diagnosis, consisting of 542 (56.5%) males and 418 (43.5%) females. The mean age of admission was 5.29 ± 4.19 years. The majority of patients were triaged as “priority 1—resuscitation” (n = 332, 34.6%), and seizures were the most frequent chief complaint (n = 317, 33.0%). Statistical significance was observed for patients with vascular issues (p = 0.013) during the pre-COVID-19 period after adjusting for odds ratio. The most common outcome was discharge (n = 558, 58.1%). The mean length of stay during the pre-COVID-19 pandemic was 16.48 ± 33.53 h, which was significantly longer compared to a mean length of stay of 7.76 ± 7.27 h during the COVID-19 pandemic (P < 0.001). Conclusion We presented a new epidemiology of pediatric patients with neuro-related ED visits. An increase in seizure diagnosis was observed, as were significant shifts in the length of stay. Demographic changes were less evident in the two periods. Understanding such variation aids in managing this vulnerable population during critical periods.