Abstract
Introduction:The social lockdown measures imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, have had profound effects on the healthcare systems across the world and India has been no exception to it. The study was aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on orthopaedic practice in India during the lockdown period and assess the preparedness of orthopaedic surgeons for resuming clinical practice after the initial lockdown was lifted.Materials and Methods:An online survey of 35 questions was conducted to evaluate impact on (i) general orthopaedic practice (ii) hospital protocols (iii) out-patient practice (iv) surgical practice (v) personal protective equipment (PPE) use and (vi) post-lockdown preparedness.Results:A total number of 588 practising orthopaedic surgeons from India completed the survey. Majority (88.3%) found severe impact (>50%) on trauma surgery and non-trauma surgery with significant reduction in out -patient attendance compared to corresponding time in 2019. There were significant changes made in individual hospital protocols (91.7 %). Appropriate required PPE was available in majority of the hospitals (74.3%). No remodelling or upgrading of the existing operating theatre infrastructure was done by most surgeons (89.5%).Conclusion:This pan India survey of orthopaedic surgeons has indicated that COVID-19 has had a profound impact on their outpatient and surgical trauma and non-trauma practice, due to the lockdown and resulted in significant changes to hospital protocols. Preparedness to resume clinical and surgical practice was associated with anxiety in two-thirds of the respondents. Majority of the orthopaedic practitioners felt that they would continue to conduct pre-operative COVID-19 screening and use PPE even after the lockdown is over.
Highlights
The social lockdown measures imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, have had profound effects on the healthcare systems across the world and India has been no exception to it
The focus of the survey was on the impact on pattern of orthopaedic practice in hospitals amidst COVID-19, assess development of new orthopaedic surgical protocols in view of pandemic situation, changes in Out-Patient Department (OPD) practice, availability and practices regarding Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) usage and Operation Theatre (OT) set up for infection control, impact on OT procedures and future preparedness for clinical practice, after the lockdown period
We observed that COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the orthopaedic practices, in India
Summary
The social lockdown measures imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, have had profound effects on the healthcare systems across the world and India has been no exception to it. Materials and Methods: An online survey of 35 questions was conducted to evaluate impact on (i) general orthopaedic practice (ii) hospital protocols (iii) out-patient practice (iv) surgical practice (v) personal protective equipment (PPE) use and (vi) post-lockdown preparedness. Conclusion: This pan India survey of orthopaedic surgeons has indicated that COVID-19 has had a profound impact on their outpatient and surgical trauma and non-trauma practice, due to the lockdown and resulted in significant changes to hospital protocols. Being mindful of travel restrictions and difficulties of collecting data in the field, an online cross-sectional questionnaire survey was undertaken to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on orthopaedic practice in India, during the lockdown period from 25 March 2020 to 17 May 2020 and to assess the preparedness of orthopaedic surgeons for clinical practice after lockdown period of the pandemic. It would be prudent to say that as lockdown period has been extended to 31 May 2020, in this article the readers are advised to consider the lockdown period as from 25 March 2020 to 17 May 2020
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