Has COVID-19 affected the number and severity of visits to a traumatology emergency department?

Esteban, P.L.; Coll, Jordi Querolt; Martínez, Marina Xicola; Biayna, Joan Camí; Delgado-Flores, Luis

doi:10.1302/2633-1462.110.bjo-2020-0120.r1

Cited by 18 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…Similar to the study by Andreozzi et al, the multiple trauma frequency was decreased in our study [20]. Similar to the work of Esteban et al, the incidence of upper and lower limb injuries increased during the pandemic period in our study [16]. With the curfew, people started to spend their time at home.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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COVID-19 outbreak impact on emergency trauma visits and trauma surgery in a level 3 trauma center

et al. 2021

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Background This study aims to compare emergency trauma visits' severity, emergency surgical needs, and characteristics between the pandemic and pre-pandemic periods. Methods This retrospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary training and research hospital between 1 and 30 April 2020 (pandemic group) and compared with the previous year's same dates (pre-pandemic group). Trauma patients aged 18 and over were included in the study. Emergency Severity Index (ESI) levels, trauma surgery needs, and injury characteristics were compared. Results A total of 2097 patients (592 pandemic and 1505 pre-pandemic) were included. There was an approximately 60% reduction in total and daily visits. ESI levels 1 (0.2% vs. 1.4%) and 2 (0.8% vs. 1.9%) patients increased during pandemic period. Trauma surgery needs (1.6% vs. 2.2%), intensive care unit (ICU) admission (0.4% vs. 0.2%), and ward admission (6.3% vs. 7.9%) did not change during pandemic period. Conclusion Despite the decrease in the visit frequency of adult trauma patients during the pandemic period, the needs for trauma surgery, ICU, and ward admission did not change. Trauma teams should continue their duties during the pandemic period.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…and Göksoy et al, an increase in emergency visits of critical trauma patients was observed in our study [15,16]. In this case, it can be said that critically ill trauma patient visits have increased during the pandemic period.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

COVID-19 outbreak impact on emergency trauma visits and trauma surgery in a level 3 trauma center

et al. 2021

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“…However, the proportion of cases with acute findings rose significantly [24]. A similar trend was reported for other injuries and diseases treated in the ED [14,25].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Treatment Efficiency for Traumatic Brain Injury in the Emergency Department: A Multicenter Study in Taiwan

Lam

Yen

et al. 2021

JCM

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted emergency department (ED) practice, including the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is commonly encountered in the ED. Our study aimed to evaluate TBI treatment efficiency in the ED during the COVID-19 pandemic. A retrospective observational study was conducted using the electronic medical records from three hospitals in metropolitan Taipei, Taiwan. The time from ED arrival to brain computed tomography (CT) and the time from ED arrival to surgical management were used as measures of treatment efficiency. TBI treatment efficiencies in the ED coinciding with a small-scale local COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 (P1) and large-scale community spread in 2021 (P2) were compared against the pre-pandemic efficiency recorded in 2019. The interval between ED arrival and brain CT was significantly shortened during P1 and P2 compared with the pre-pandemic interval, and no significant delay between ED arrival and surgical management was found, indicating increased treatment efficiency for TBI in the ED during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minimizing viral spread in the community and the hospital is vital to maintaining ED treatment efficiency and capacity. The ED should retain sufficient capacity to treat older patients with serious TBI during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“…There have been numerous articles analysing trauma patterns during the COVID-19 outbreak with the pattern of injury changing depending on the country, region and age of the patients [14][15]. During the COVID-19 pandemic emergency departments internationally saw a reported reduction in patients attending during relative periods of lockdown in each country [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Overall attendances to emergency departments were reported to have declined by as much as 68% in Italy [18][19] and 60% in parts of the United States of America [20].…”

Section: Year 2019 2020mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An article from Finland reported that although overall attendances reduced by 17%, attendance related to MSK pain or injury reduced by 31% [21]. In places such as Barcelona (Spain), trauma attendances reduced by as much as 86.1% [22]. Italy also reported a large reduction in the number of attendances related to trauma, reducing by 70%.…”

Section: Year 2019 2020mentioning

confidence: 99%

Musculoskeletal Attendances to a Minor Injury Department During a Pandemic

Dowell¹,

Ashwood²,

Hind³

2021

Cureus

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Introduction: As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) became a public health emergency of international concern, countries across the globe began to instate strict social distancing restrictions or “lockdowns”. During these times emergency departments in the United Kingdom (UK) recorded a significant drop in patients attending when compared to the same months of previous years. Attendances related to musculoskeletal (MSK) trauma also saw a significant drop in numbers Objective: The purpose of this retrospective audit was to investigate patterns of injuries attending during the pandemic and more specifically during times of lockdown. Method: Retrospective audit data was collected from an electronic medical record system (MediTech V6) during the time period of the first lockdown in the UK. Data was collected for patients attending the emergency department at the Queens Hospital Burton site of the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton National Health Service (NHS) Trust. Presenting complaints were recorded for the entire emergency department, and diagnosis on discharge and activity status was recorded for minor injuries only. This data was then compared to the same date from 2019. Results: Overall attendances in the emergency department decreased by 45.42% during the first lockdown when compared to the same time period in 2019. MSK problems also saw a significant drop as back pain decreased by 58.88%, neck pain fell by 78.52% and limb problems decreased by 59.74%. When comparing data from the minor injury department, limb problems decreased by 20.45%. The number of soft tissue injuries decreased by 24.05% and fractures decreased by 7.96%. Conclusion: Attendances in the emergency department were greatly reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the first lockdown. The rates of fractures and soft tissue injuries within the minors’ area of the emergency department were also reduced but not at the same rate as the overall attendance. A large number of fractures and soft tissue injuries still presented to the emergency department despite reduced national activity. These attendances may be as a result of the increased rate of Do It Yourself (DIY)-related injuries and altered patient/social behaviour due to lockdown, social distancing, and seasons/weather. Further research would be required to investigate the changing patterns of behaviour especially as we enter a second wave of cases.

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Has COVID-19 affected the number and severity of visits to a traumatology emergency department?

Cited by 18 publications

References 9 publications

COVID-19 outbreak impact on emergency trauma visits and trauma surgery in a level 3 trauma center

COVID-19 outbreak impact on emergency trauma visits and trauma surgery in a level 3 trauma center

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Treatment Efficiency for Traumatic Brain Injury in the Emergency Department: A Multicenter Study in Taiwan

Musculoskeletal Attendances to a Minor Injury Department During a Pandemic

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