How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect surgically treated fractures?

Abstract

Objective : The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on fractures requiring orthopedic surgery by comparing it with the same 6-month period last year. Materials and Methods : Patients who underwent orthopedic surgery for fractures between April 2020 and October 2020 were retrospectively scanned and 211 patients were included in the study. As the control group, 184 patients who underwent surgery in the same 6-month period of 2019 were included in the study. Demographic data, number of fractures and distribution of the patients were examined. Results : While 111 of the patients in the control group were male, 73 were female. In the study group, 121 patients were male and 90 patients were female. There was no statistically significant difference in fractures caused by traffic accidents and occupational accidents (p=0,742, p=0,602 respectively). There was a statistically significant difference between the under 20 age group and the over 65 age group (p=0,015, p=0,026 respectively). It was observed that the numbers of patients with multitrauma increased from 16 to 30. In addition, a statistically significant increase was observed in the number of femur subtrochanteric and tibia distal tip fractures (p=0,042, p=0,029 respectively). Conclusion : Compared to the same period last year, although there was no increase in the number of patients requiring surgical treatment, the number of subtrochanteric femur and distal tibia fractures increased.