# Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID vaccination campaign on imaging case volumes and medicolegal aspects

## TL;DR

The study shows how the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination campaign affected radiology case volumes in a Southern Italian hospital.

## Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence on the recovery of radiological services post-vaccination in a pandemic setting.

## Key findings

- Radiological case volumes dropped significantly during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels.
- The vaccination campaign helped restore imaging volumes to pre-pandemic levels.
- Outpatient imaging was most affected during the pandemic.

## Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) significantly impacted the global economy and health. Italy was one of the first and most affected countries. The objective of our study was to assess the impact of the pandemic and the vaccination campaign on the radiological examinations performed in a radiology department of a tertiary center in Southern Italy.

We analyzed weekly and retrospectively electronic medical records of case volumes performed at the Radiology Department of “Mater Domini” University Hospital of Catanzaro from March 2020 to March 2022, comparing them with the volumes in the same period of the year 2019. We considered the origin of patients (outpatient, inpatient) and the type of examinations carried out (x-ray, mammography, CT, MRI, and ultrasound). A non-parametric test (Wilcoxon Signed Rank test) was applied to evaluate the average volumes.

Total flows in the pandemic period from COVID-19 were lower than in the same pre-pandemic period with values of 552 (120) vs. 427 (149) median (IQR) (p < 0.001). The vaccination campaign allowed the resumption of the pre-vaccination pandemic with total flows 563 (113) vs. 427 (149) median (IQR) p < 0.001. In the post-vaccination period, the number of examinations was found to overlap with the pre-COVID period.

The pandemic impacted the volume of radiological examinations performed, particularly with the reduction of tests in outpatients. The vaccination allowed the return to the pre-COVID period imaging case volumes.