Epidemiologic characteristics of traumatic fractures during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China: A retrospective & comparative multi-center study

Abstract

Amid the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), effective measures have been taken in China to suggest people wearing masks and staying at home. The majority of the people stayed at home, which had an obvious impact on the occurrence of traumatic fractures. This study aimed to describe the epidemiologic characteristics of traumatic fractures during the COVID-19, and provide reference for targeted control measures for the whole world by proposing China's experiences.Methods: This was a retrospective & comparative multi-center study with data obtained from 11 hospitals in five provinces of China. Patients were enrolled into this study, who sustained fractures from 20 January to 19 February 2020 and the same period in 2019 (based on Chinese lunar calendar). All patients were divided into two groups: epidemic group (admitted in 2020) and control group (admitted in 2019). The data of patients' demographics (age and gender), injury related data (fracture type, fractured site, osteoporosis fracture, concurrent fractures, injury mechanism, places where fracture occurred, ISS score, Gustilo-Anderson Classification for open fracture), mortality and treatment modality were compared between the two groups.

Epidemiologic Characteristics and Double-buffered Strategy for Patients in Orthopedic Surgery During the Novel Coronavirus Outbreak: Wuhan's Experience

“…Orthopedic patients in need of emergency treatment, including open fractures, osteofascial compartment syndrome, blood vessels and nerves injury, and large area avulsion skin injuries, were signi cantly reduced because of strict city control measures [11]. During the epidemic period, the orthopedic emergencies and expedited surgeries were indicative of admission and surgery, while the elective surgery was 37.7% during the non-epidemic period.…”

Epidemiology of Distal Radius Fractures in Children and Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic – A Two-Center Study

“…Distal radius fractures constitute a social problem [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the lives of both adults and children around the world [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Some schools have been closed, causing children to stay at home, and some adults work from home.…”

“…We expected to see a trend towards lower numbers of DRF patients due to social distancing measures and instances of self-quarantine, which altered people's behaviors and lifestyles [13,18,19,20,22,23,24].…”

“…The amount of tra c also declined dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors, as well as the patients' and their guardians' fears of infection during a visit to the hospital affected the epidemiology and treatment of DRFs in children and adults [13][14][15][16][17]23,24]. Some authors reported falling numbers of tra c accidents, sports-related injuries, and outdoor injuries during the pandemic, which would lead to lower numbers of high-energy fractures [14,17,18,19,22,24].…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic altered the healthcare in the whole world in the year 2020 [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Although the causative coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) can infect both adults and children, the majority of children have mild or asymptomatic course of the disease [13].…”