26/01/2022
The pandemic situation continues to exist longer than we all expected and hoped, thus it’s fundamental to investigate how this influences patients' care.
The survey below investigates the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the management of patients with chronic intestinal failure who are receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN).
In total 78 centers worldwide contributed to the survey – which means more than 3500 patients’ experiences were gathered. It was confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic have had a far-reaching adverse impact on patients receiving HPN.
While for the majority of centers, the provision of nursing care, personal protective equipment and administration of HPN has remained unaffected, the routine follow-up of patients receiving HPN has changed from being face-to-face to using telemedicine. This has resulted in an associated reduction in routine monitoring of biochemistry and radiological procedures. The ability to discharge home, new patients receiving HPN, was restricted for both benign and malignant conditions.
Clinicians from different centers concurred that the pandemic had a negative impact on their patients’ psychology, causing feelings of anxiety, fear, depression, and thoughts surrounding isolation or confinement.