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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid injection services: A National Survey of Members of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists (BSSR)

OBJECTIVE: To describe the restructuring of services by British radiologists in response to evolving national guidelines and highlight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. METHODS: An online anonymised survey was distributed via the British Societ...

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Autores principales: Dalili, Danoob, Fairhead, Rory, Mermekli, Asimenia, Papanikitas, Joseph, Teh, James, Hughes, Richard, Fascia, Daniel, McKean, David
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The British Institute of Radiology. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9328042/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34520669
http://dx.doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20210327
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author Dalili, Danoob
Fairhead, Rory
Mermekli, Asimenia
Papanikitas, Joseph
Teh, James
Hughes, Richard
Fascia, Daniel
McKean, David
author_facet Dalili, Danoob
Fairhead, Rory
Mermekli, Asimenia
Papanikitas, Joseph
Teh, James
Hughes, Richard
Fascia, Daniel
McKean, David
author_sort Dalili, Danoob
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To describe the restructuring of services by British radiologists in response to evolving national guidelines and highlight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. METHODS: An online anonymised survey was distributed via the British Society of Skeletal Radiology (BSSR) members forum in November 2020. Responses were collated using a standardised Google form including 21 questions. RESULTS: 135 members of the BSSR completed the survey. 85% of respondents stopped performing corticosteroid injections (CSI) during the initial lockdown of the pandemic. This was primarily influenced by national guidelines. The majority of respondents initially abstained from offered CSI procedures, then by November 2020, 69% of respondents were providing CSI for high and low risk patients, 23% were only providing CSI for low-risk patients with 8% still not performing any CSI. 40% of respondents reported routinely obtaining specific written consent regarding the risk of COVID-19. Approximately, 11,000 CSI were performed by respondents between March and November 2020 with no reported significant COVID-19-related complications. Over 80% of BSSR members reported that the number of CSI procedures that they performed dropped by more than 80% compared to usual. 73% of respondents reported an increased backlog of patients awaiting treatment. The average waiting time for routine outpatient CSI treatment was > 12 weeks in 53% of responses, compared to 34% the previous year. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the clinical practices of MSK radiologists in the UK. Our survey highlights the rapid response of BSSR members as national guidelines evolved. Currently, the majority of respondents are performing CSI for musculoskeletal conditions when clinically indicated, with enhanced consent. However, the pandemic has resulted in increased waiting times – delaying the treatment of patients who may be suffering with significant pain and disability. Further research is warranted to provide guidance around both service recovery and provision of CSI around COVID-19 vaccination schedules. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: BSSR members responded rapidly to changing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of respondents are currently performing CSI when clinically indicated. The pandemic has resulted in a significant increase in waiting times which will have a significant impact on UK musculoskeletal services.
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spelling pubmed-93280422022-08-05 Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid injection services: A National Survey of Members of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists (BSSR) Dalili, Danoob Fairhead, Rory Mermekli, Asimenia Papanikitas, Joseph Teh, James Hughes, Richard Fascia, Daniel McKean, David Br J Radiol Full Paper OBJECTIVE: To describe the restructuring of services by British radiologists in response to evolving national guidelines and highlight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. METHODS: An online anonymised survey was distributed via the British Society of Skeletal Radiology (BSSR) members forum in November 2020. Responses were collated using a standardised Google form including 21 questions. RESULTS: 135 members of the BSSR completed the survey. 85% of respondents stopped performing corticosteroid injections (CSI) during the initial lockdown of the pandemic. This was primarily influenced by national guidelines. The majority of respondents initially abstained from offered CSI procedures, then by November 2020, 69% of respondents were providing CSI for high and low risk patients, 23% were only providing CSI for low-risk patients with 8% still not performing any CSI. 40% of respondents reported routinely obtaining specific written consent regarding the risk of COVID-19. Approximately, 11,000 CSI were performed by respondents between March and November 2020 with no reported significant COVID-19-related complications. Over 80% of BSSR members reported that the number of CSI procedures that they performed dropped by more than 80% compared to usual. 73% of respondents reported an increased backlog of patients awaiting treatment. The average waiting time for routine outpatient CSI treatment was > 12 weeks in 53% of responses, compared to 34% the previous year. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the clinical practices of MSK radiologists in the UK. Our survey highlights the rapid response of BSSR members as national guidelines evolved. Currently, the majority of respondents are performing CSI for musculoskeletal conditions when clinically indicated, with enhanced consent. However, the pandemic has resulted in increased waiting times – delaying the treatment of patients who may be suffering with significant pain and disability. Further research is warranted to provide guidance around both service recovery and provision of CSI around COVID-19 vaccination schedules. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: BSSR members responded rapidly to changing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of respondents are currently performing CSI when clinically indicated. The pandemic has resulted in a significant increase in waiting times which will have a significant impact on UK musculoskeletal services. The British Institute of Radiology. 2021-10-01 2022-07-08 /pmc/articles/PMC9328042/ /pubmed/34520669 http://dx.doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20210327 Text en © 2021 The Authors. Published by the British Institute of Radiology https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Full Paper
Dalili, Danoob
Fairhead, Rory
Mermekli, Asimenia
Papanikitas, Joseph
Teh, James
Hughes, Richard
Fascia, Daniel
McKean, David
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid injection services: A National Survey of Members of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists (BSSR)
title Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid injection services: A National Survey of Members of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists (BSSR)
title_full Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid injection services: A National Survey of Members of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists (BSSR)
title_fullStr Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid injection services: A National Survey of Members of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists (BSSR)
title_full_unstemmed Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid injection services: A National Survey of Members of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists (BSSR)
title_short Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corticosteroid injection services: A National Survey of Members of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists (BSSR)
title_sort impact of the covid-19 pandemic on corticosteroid injection services: a national survey of members of the british society of skeletal radiologists (bssr)
topic Full Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9328042/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34520669
http://dx.doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20210327
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