Allegedly only planned operations are postponed in Munich, it is said again and again.
The experienced director of the neurosurgical clinic at the LMU Klinikum explains what the corona reality really looks like.
Munich - Because of the dramatic corona situation in the Munich clinics, more and more patients who are not sick with Covid-19 have to stand back - even cancer patients with tumors in critical stages.
Professor Dr.
Jörg-Christian Tonn (62), in an interview with
tz
and
Münchner Merkur
.
The experienced director of neurosurgery at the LMU Klinikum heads one of the largest centers for the treatment of brain tumors in Germany and Europe.
In the past year alone, around 850 patients were operated on.
There were also around 100 interventions for tumors or metastases on the spine.
Bitter corona reality in Munich: Dr.
Jörg-Christian Tonn explains it in an interview
Allegedly only so-called predictable operations are canceled, in which the time of the operation is not as important as in the case of tumors, heart attacks or strokes. Cancer operations should continue as usual in the intensive care units despite the corona emergency. How's it going in practice?
Jörg-Christian Tonn:
The reality has been looking very different for a long time.
We have to postpone brain tumor operations more and more often, we can only operate on the most urgent cases immediately.
We are in fact forced to sort our patients for an operation order.
So the bottom line is that we already operate triage on a daily basis - for patients without Covid disease.
"Brain tumor patients are repeatedly deleted from the surgical plan"
Is the situation really that dire? Sufficient treatment reserves should be available, especially in the high-performance large clinics in Munich.
Tonn:
Unfortunately, these reserves will also be used up at some point.
Just ask the patient.
Their names are sometimes on the surgical plan five, six, or seven times, but they always have to be deleted.
Sometimes we even have to send her home with the promise that we will call her again if there is an opportunity for surgery.
Why can't you plan it differently?
Ton:
Because with every brain tumor operation - as with many other brain interventions - it must be ensured that the patient can spend a night in a monitoring or intensive care unit.
This is necessary so that we can react immediately in the event of complications and it serves the safety of the patients.
Because of Covid, the beds are extremely scarce.
Due to the rapid increase in Covid-19 patients, the number of intensive care beds for patients without Covid-19 has been greatly reduced, including for us in our own intensive care unit.
We fight for every single bed every morning.
If an emergency comes up, for example an accident victim or a person with a cerebral hemorrhage is admitted, then our planning breaks down like a house of cards again.
Our capacities are of necessity sewn to the edge.
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Professor Dr.
Jörg-Christian Tonn
© private
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What does this mean for the patient?
Tonn:
Your prognosis can deteriorate enormously, and it has already happened.
If, for example, a brain tumor continues to grow untreated, it may even be that we miss the point in time by which the tumor can still be operated on.
Then there is the emotional burden for the patient: Imagine you are in hospital with a serious illness, waiting for your operation and being put off every day.
This is a problem for many of those affected - especially as there is currently a ban on visits due to Covid-19.
Do you have the impression that politicians are aware of this problem?
Tonn: In
any case, you should keep an eye on the fact that we urgently need intensive care beds for patients who are not sick with Covid-19.
Unfortunately, the fact is: People only ever talk about predictable operations to be postponed, suggesting that everything else will take place as usual.
That is not right.
Munich: The situation in clinics remains tense, but no quick solution in sight
What would have to happen for this to change quickly?
Tonn:
A quick solution is hardly possible, but the necessary measures must now be planned, approved and implemented quickly.
There has been no structural improvement between the previous waves, and we are where we were in spring.
Monitoring capacities have to be increased structurally and in terms of personnel - we need them even without a Covid-19 pandemic in view of an aging society with increasing concomitant diseases.
The pandemic acts like a fire accelerator.
(Interview: Andreas Beez)
