About half of neurological procedures in the U.S. are considered essential, and a new GlobalData report estimates that most of the volume halted during the pandemic will return.
Three findings:
1. A little over half — 53.7 percent — of neurological procedures are deemed essential, including spinal trauma and tumors. The remaining 46.3 percent of procedures are deemed elective.
2. The top 10 elective procedures account for 96.9 percent of the total volume; these procedures include spinal taps, spinal canal exploration and decompression, radio-telemetered electroencephalographic monitoring and spinal injections.
3. By CMS and American College of Surgeons triage guidelines, most elective spine surgeries have a tier 2 rating and should be postponed if possible. However, there are some neurosurgical procedures that have a tier 3 rating and should be conducted immediately if resources are available.
"Given the critical nature of neurological procedures, GlobalData predicts that elective procedure volumes will return to pre-COVID-19 levels by Q4 2020, following a decline of new COVID-19 cases to a manageable level, likely to be below 2.5 cases per 100,000," said Eric Chapman, medical devices analyst at GlobalData.
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