Triaging of patients and their management during the lockdown period due to COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary eye center in India

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study is to describe the triaging of patients based on their clinical profile and the management offered during the lockdown period due to the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary eye center. Methods: A cross-sectional study of patients who visited the emergency department during the lockdown (Phase 1 and Phase 2) from March 3,2020 to May 5, 2020 at a tertiary eye care center and their management was carried out. All the data were collected from the Electronic Medical Record of the hospital. Results: A total of 453 patients presented to the hospital during this period. The mean age of the patients was 42.12 ± 18.12 years (Median 46 and Range 31–54). Maximum numbers of patients were in the adult age group (73.95%) and were male (63.35%). On triaging, 42.83% needed emergency care, 20.75% needed urgent care, and 36.42% of patients were manageable with routine care. The majority of the emergency cases were of trauma (46.91%) followed by vitreoretinal (17.01%) and corneal (11.86%) complaints. Most of the patients were managed medically (94.26%) while few needed surgeries (5.74%). The patients being attended during the lockdown period was 1.9% of the total patients (23,121) seen during the same time period in the year 2019. Conclusion: There was a drastic fall in the number of patients visiting the hospital during the lockdown period. The majority of the visiting patients needed emergency care and a handful of patients were managed surgically. Rearranging the clinical and surgical activity with triaging helped us to achieve safe and methodological practice during this pandemic period.