Limiting spread of COVID-19 in an orthopaedic department-a perspective from Spain.
Enrique Gomez BarrenaJuan C Rubio-SuárezNicomedes Fernández-BailloSamuel AntuñaAna Cruz-PardosManuel BlancoEduardo Ortiz-CruzGaspar González-MoránEnrique Gil-GarayPublished in: Journal of surgical case reports (2020)
Besides national and international recommendations, orthopaedic departments face significant changes in daily activity and serious issues to maintain their standards in musculoskeletal care during the pandemic Covid-19 crisis that we are facing. This report retrospectively addresses measures that were progressively put in place to modify in a week time the activity of a busy orthopaedic department in a large tertiary university hospital in face of the pandemic. Surgical priorities and surgical outcomes are key aspects to consider. The experience may offer some insight to areas where the spread of the disease may be slower or delayed. Abrupt stop of scheduled surgery and clinics is useful to adapt an orthopaedic department to the overall hospital resource reorganization. Orthopaedic surgeons need to be aware of the risks to patients and personnel in view of underdiagnosed cases, which make pre-operative Covid-19 evaluation mandatory for all surgical cases.
Keyphrases
- coronavirus disease
- sars cov
- quality improvement
- respiratory syndrome coronavirus
- healthcare
- end stage renal disease
- tertiary care
- newly diagnosed
- minimally invasive
- chronic kidney disease
- ejection fraction
- primary care
- public health
- physical activity
- prognostic factors
- coronary artery bypass
- emergency department
- coronary artery disease
- chronic pain
- acute coronary syndrome
- surgical site infection
- double blind
- placebo controlled
- electronic health record