Impact of COVID-19 first wave on the in-hospital length of stay of operated proximal femur fracture patients in an industrial hospital in Eastern India

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to study the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic first wave on the in-hospital length of stay of operated proximal femur fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of data collected through the electronic record system of the hospital, after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, was done. The data were collected from the pre-pandemic, early part first wave and later part first wave of COVID-19 pandemic to calculate the average preoperative stay (POS) and total length of stay (LOS) of operated proximal femur fracture patients. Also, a sub-analysis of POS and LOS was done as per age (male/female), sex (<60/≥60 years) and fracture subtype (intertrochanteric, neck of femur and subtrochanteric fracture) of the patients to study if any of these had a significant direct impact on the POS and LOS. RESULTS: The LOS and POS were found to be significantly increased during early part of first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to the pre-pandemic era (13.6 ± 7.7 days vs. 11.1 ± 5.7 days). The later part of the first wave of the pandemic however saw the LOS and POS to return to near pre-pandemic values, although still remaining higher. CONCLUSION: The study highlights that unpreparedness during the early part of the unprecedented pandemic event leads to a significant increase in LOS of operated patients with its associated implications; however, prompt action by the government, hospital administration and hospital staff the LOS could be reduced to near pre-pandemic values in the later part of the first wave of the pandemic. Analysis of the causes that lead to a significant increase in LOS can help for better future management of similar events in future.