The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Orthopedic Trauma Practice: An Experience at a Tertiary Care Center in Northern India

Abstract: The Impact of Covid -19 Pandemic on Orthopedic trauma practice: An experience at a tertiary care center in Northern India Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown have had drastic effects on the health care system. To dedicate all the staff, residents, interns to covid care and accommodate the escalated inflow of infected persons, most hospitals had to restructure their departments. The orthopedic department was no exception. The present study aimed to evaluate trends in orthopedic trauma cases during two waves of the Covid -19 pandemic. Material and Methods: In this retrospective observational study, the period of lockdown during the first wave of Covid (March 24, 2020, to May 31, 2020 (Period 2)) and the second wave in 2021 was compared with a similar nine weeks interval in 2019 before COVID -19 (Period 1). Demographic details and epidemiological parameters of trauma were collected and compared. Observations: The number of admissions declined from 8.2 admissions/day to 2.3/day and 2.71/day in periods 2 and 3, respectively. Roadside accidents in 73.37% of patients in period 1 reduced to 30.43% and 59 36.2% in period 2 and 3, respectively. After soft tissue injuries, fractures around the hip joint dominated the pattern of injury during the lockdown, while polytrauma significantly decreased compared to the pre-covid era. More than 80% of patients during lockdown were treated conservatively. Conclusion: Evaluation of differences in injury patterns and method of treatment during distinctive situations arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic will help to judicially plan and formulate protocols for more effective management of patients if similar events arise again. Keywords: Pandemic, Covid-19, Lockdown, orthopedic trauma, trends