## 3 Results
### Postoperative Outcomes in Pandemic and Non-Pandemic Groups  
Tumor resection in intended oncological safety limits was performed in most cases in both groups (76.3% in the non-pandemic group, and 88.9% in the pandemic group, respectively). In the remaining cases, a colostomy or ileostomy was decided, either palliative or temporary, to resolve a bowel obstruction in emergency, in patients with multiple comorbidities and insufficiently explored as oncological status. Statistical analysis of the type of surgery showed no significant difference between the 2 study groups (Table 2). The mean hospital stay was slightly lower in the pandemic group (12.72+/\(-\)5.3 days vs. 15.82+/\(-\)11.7 days). There was no in-hospital COVID-19 infection in patients operated for colorectal cancer, which proves the efficiency of the newly established circuits and \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l} \hline \hline  & & **Non-Pandemic Group** & **Pandemic Group** & _p-Value_ \\ \hline Type of surgery (no. of cases; \%): & & & & 0.168 (c) \\  & \(\bullet\) & Rectum amputation & 16 (13.5\%) & 4 (11.1\%) & \\  & \(\bullet\) & Colostomy/ileostomy & 29 (24.5\%) & 5 (13.8\%) & \\  & \(\bullet\) & Hartman surgery & 23 (19.4\%) & 13 (36.1\%) & \\  & \(\bullet\) & Right hemicotomy & 27 (22.8\%) & 8 (22.2\%) & \\  & \(\bullet\) & Left hemicotomy & 21 (17.7\%) & 2 (5.5\%) & \\  & \(\bullet\) & Segmental resection & 2 (1.7\%) & 4 (11.1\%) & \\ \hline Hospital stays (days) & 15.82+/\(-\)11.7 & 12.72+/\(-\)5.3 & 0.278 (b) \\ Postoperative hospital stays (days) & 11.59+/\(-\)9.4 & 11+/\(-\)4.94 & 0.798 (b) \\ \hline \multicolumn{4}{l}{Systemic postoperative complications (no. of cases; \%):} \\  & \(\bullet\) & Clostridium infection & 12 (10.1\%) & 5 (13.8\%) & 0.452 (a) \\  & \(\bullet\) & Septic shock & 6 (5\%) & 13 (36.1\%) & \(<\)0.001 * (a) \\  & \(\bullet\) & Pulmonary acute edema & 4 (3.3\%) & 2 (5.5\%) & 0.677 (a) \\  & \(\bullet\) & Myocardial infarction & 2 (1.7\%) & 0 & NS \\  & \(\bullet\) & Malignant arterial hypertension & 3 (2.5\%) & 0 & NS \\  & \(\bullet\) & Urictavian & 1 (0.9\%) & 0 & NS \\  & \(\bullet\) & Urinary infection & 2 (1.7\%) & 0 & NS \\ \hline \multicolumn{4}{l}{Wound related complications (no. of cases; \%):} \\  & \(\bullet\) & Bleeding & 3 (2.5\%) & 0 & NS \\  & \(\bullet\) & SSI & 16 (13.5\%) & 4 (11.1\%) & NS \\  & \(\bullet\) & Infected hematoma & 4 (3.3\%) & 0 & NS \\  & \(\bullet\) & Anastomotic leak & 8 (6.7\%) & 4 (11.1\%) & NS \\  & \(\bullet\) & Colostomy detachment & 1 (0.9\%) & 0 & NS \\ \hline \multicolumn{4}{l}{Death at 30 days after surgery (no. of cases; \%):} \\ \multicolumn{4}{l}{Causes of death (no. of cases; \%):} \\ \multicolumn{4}{l}{\(\bullet\) & Septic shock & 4 (3.3\%) & 8 (22.2\%) & \(<\)0.001 * (a) \\  & \(\bullet\) & Myocardial infarction & 2 (1.7\%) & 0 & NS \\  & \(\bullet\) & Pulmonary acute edema & 2 (1.7\%) & 1 (2.75\%) & NS \\ \hline \end{tabular}  
Footnote: * Statistically significant; NS: non-significant/irrelevant statistics; (a) Fisher’s Exact Test for 2 \(\times\) 2-Table; (b) non-parametric Mann–Whitney U-test for comparison of distributions; (c) Fisher’s Exact Test for N \(\times\) 2-Table, N \(>\) 2.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: Types of surgery, mortality and postoperative complications in the 2 study groups. procedures. The surgical wound infections were lower in the pandemic group, but not statistically significant. As a general guideline, colo-colic or colo-rectal anastomosis was avoided in cases operated in emergency, due to a high incidence of anastomotic leaks in such conditions. When analyzing the postoperative complications according to the Clavien Dindo classification (Table 3), the chi-square test did not show a significant difference among the 2 groups (\(p\) = 0.085). However, statistical analysis revealed worse outcomes in the pandemic group in terms of mortality (25% vs. 6.7%, \(p\) = 0.017) and postoperative septic shock (36.1% vs. 5%, \(p\) = 0.0001).