Work characteristics of orthopaedic surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic: A single center analysis

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in widespread cancellation of elective orthopaedic surgeries. During the pandemic period, many orthopaedic surgeons had been working at the front line to fight against COVID-19 in China, and the number of orthopaedic surgeries performed in our hospital decreased sharply. METHODS: The work characteristics of orthopaedic surgeons was evaluated by the workplaces of orthopaedic surgeons, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection rate of orthopaedic surgeons and the number of orthopaedic surgeries performed. January 23–April 7 in 2020, January 23–April 8 in 2019, and April 8–June 22 in 2020 was defined as the pandemic period, non-pandemic period and post-pandemic period, respectively. The number and types of orthopaedic surgeons during the pandemic period, non-pandemic period, and post-pandemic period was compared and summarized. RESULTS: During the pandemic period, 65.56% of the orthopaedic surgeons had been working at the front line to fight against COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 infection rate of the orthopaedic surgeons who worked at the front line in January and since February was 18.18% and 0.00%, respectively (P=0.003). The number of orthopaedic surgeries performed per day during the pandemic period decreased 95.74% compared with the same period in the past year (P<0.001). The number of orthopaedic surgeries performed during the post-pandemic period was 13.10 times that of the pandemic period (P<0.001), and 55.71% of the non-pandemic period (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The work characteristics of orthopaedic surgeons greatly changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.