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Background: The novel coronavirus and associated Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is rapidly spreading throughout the world, with robust growth in the United States. Its drastic impact on the global population and international health care is swift, evolving, and unpredictable. The effects on orthopaedic surgery departments are predominantly indirect, with widespread cessation of all nonessential orthopaedic care. Although this is vital to the system-sustaining measures of isolation and resource reallocation, there is profound detriment to orthopaedic training programs. Methods: In the face of new pressures on the finite timeline on an orthopaedic residency, the Emory University School of Medicine Department of Orthopaedics has devised a 5-pronged strategy based on the following: (1) patient and provider safety, (2) uninterrupted necessary care, (3) system sustainability, (4) adaptability, and (5) preservation of vital leadership structures. Results: Our 5 tenants support a 2-team system, whereby the residents are divided into cycling “active-duty” and “working remotely” factions. In observation of the potential incubation period of viral symptoms, phase transitions occur every 2 weeks with strict adherence to team assignments. Intrateam redundancy can accommodate potential illness to ensure a stable unit of able residents. Active duty residents participate in in-person surgical encounters and virtual ambulatory encounters, whereas remotely working residents participate in daily video-conferenced faculty-lead, case-based didactics and pursue academic investigation, grant writing, and quality improvement projects. To sustain this, faculty and administrative 2-team systems are also in place to protect the leadership and decision-making components of the department. Conclusions: The novel coronavirus has decimated the United States healthcare system, with an unpredictable duration, magnitude, and variability. As collateral damage, orthopaedic residencies are faced with new challenges to provide care and educate residents in the face of safety, resource redistribution, and erosion of classic learning opportunities. Our adaptive approach aims to be a generalizable tactic to optimize our current landscape.

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Background Total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are two high-volume procedures that were delayed due to COVID-19. Questions/Purposes To help strategize an effective return to elective orthopedic surgery, we aimed to quantify the volume of THA and TKA cases delayed across the USA and estimate the time required to care for these patients when non-urgent surgery resumes. Methods Population-level data was used to estimate monthly THA and TKA procedural volume from 2011 to 2017. Using linear regression, we used this data to project monthly procedural volumes for 2020 to 2023. Nine different permutations were modeled to account for variations in case delay rates (50%, 75%, 100%) and in resumption of non-urgent procedure timing. Two recovery pathways using the highest volume month as a surrogate for maximum operative capacity, and a second using the highest month + 20% were used to simulate a theoretical expansion of current capacity. Results The projected national volume of delayed cases was 155,293 (mid-March through April; 95% CI 142,004 to 168,580), 260,806 (through May; 95% CI 238,658 to 282,952), and 372,706 (through June; 95% CI 341,699 to 403,709). The best- and worst-case scenarios for delayed cases were 77,646 (95% CI 71,002 to 84,290) and 372,706 (95% CI 341,699 to 403,709), respectively. The projected catch-up time varied between 9 and nearly 35 months for the best- and worst-case scenarios. The addition of 20% increased productivity decreased this time to between 3.21 and 11.59 months. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a significant backlog of THA and TKA procedures. Surgeons, administrators, and policymakers should account for these modeled estimates of case volume delays and projected demands. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11420-020-09806-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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BackgroundPulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, together referred to as venous thromboembolism (VTE), are serious and potentially preventable complications after total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of mortality after VTE events and assess the risk factors that are associated with it.MethodsThe Nationwide Inpatient Sample was used to estimate the total number of total hip arthroplasty, total knee arthroplasty, VTE events, and mortality using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision procedure codes from 2003 to 2012. Patients' demographics, Elixhauser, and Charlson comorbidity indices were used to identify the risk factors associated with in-hospital VTEs and mortality.ResultsA total of 1,805,621 THAs and TKAs were included. The overall rate of VTE was 0.93%. The in-hospital mortality rate among patients with VTEs was 7.1% vs 0.30% in patients without VTEs (P-value < .0001). The risk factors for mortality after VTE events in descending order were as follows: hypercoagulable state (odds ratio [OR]: 5.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.6-5.8), metastatic cancer (OR: 5.2, 95% CI: 3.3-5.6), myocardial infarction (OR: 4.2, 95% CI: 2.3-4.7), peripheral vascular disease (OR: 3.6, 95% CI: 3.2-4.0), cardiac arrhythmias (OR: 3.2, 95% CI: 1.6-4.3), advanced age (OR: 3.1, 95% CI: 2.3-3.7), electrolyte disorders (OR: 3.1, 95% CI: 2.2-3.6), pulmonary circulation disorders (OR: 2.9, 95% CI: 2.6-3.3), depression (OR: 2.8, 95% CI: 1.6-3.4), complicated diabetes (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 2.1-3.2), weight loss (OR: 2.6, 95% CI: 2.2-3.3), renal failure (OR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1.7-3.5), chronic pulmonary disease (OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.3-3.1), valvular disease (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.8-2.7), liver disease (OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 1.2-1.9), and obesity (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.5-1.9).ConclusionsIn-hospital VTE has a significant in-hospital mortality rate. Several of the identified risk factors in this study are modifiable preoperatively. We strongly urge the orthopaedic community to be cognizant of these risk factors and emphasize on optimizing patients' comorbidities before an elective arthroplasty.