Letter to the Editor Regarding “Early Changes to Neurosurgery Resident Training During the COVID-19 Pandemic at a Large United States Academic Medical Center”

Letter to the Editor Regarding “Early Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Neurosurgical Training in the United States: A Case Volume Analysis of 8 Programs”

“… 2 During the “lockdown” period in 2020, we performed 53 surgeries (47 emergency, 6 routine) compared with 111 (47 emergency, 64 routine) during the same duration in 2019, indicating an overall decline of 52.2%. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 The number of emergency cases in our study were not affected much due to the pandemic, while the number of elective cases declined remarkably. On comparing our operative workload per specialty with the pre−COVID-19 era, a decrease in number of cases was noted across all specialties (neurooncology, neurotrauma, cerebrovascular, congenital, degenerative spinal disorders).…”

Getting Neurosurgery Services Back on Its Feet: “Learning to Live” with COVID-19

“…In our previous articles, we have raised concerns about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on non-COVID-19 patients considered to be ” non-emergent .”[ 6 9 10 15 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 ] If postponed for too long, these patients risk presenting with more advanced diseases at a later stage. In this article, we have presented the response of our institute and neurosurgery department during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to highlight our attempts to attend to the ” nonemergent ” patients along with COVID-19 and emergent cases.…”

In Reply to the Letter to the Editor Regarding “Early Changes to Neurosurgery Resident Training During the COVID-19 Pandemic at a Large United States Academic Medical Center”

“…We are glad for the opportunity to respond to Goyal et al's 1 thoughtful comments and appreciate their interest. They note a remarkably similar lockdown period to that which occurred here in Miami-Dade County, with cancellation of elective cases also disproportionately affecting some subspecialties like neurooncology and spinal deformity.…”

“…They note a remarkably similar lockdown period to that which occurred here in Miami-Dade County, with cancellation of elective cases also disproportionately affecting some subspecialties like neurooncology and spinal deformity. 2 As part of a broader effort to address resulting deficiencies in resident training during the pandemic, Goyal et al 1 also point out a significant reduction in research activities affecting neurosurgery residents across India as a result of the pandemic. Certainly, while less time in the operating room allows for more clinical analysis and introspection, productivity at the bench and collaboration across laboratories and institutions have required innovative approaches.…”