The Impact of COVID-19 on Future Orthopaedic Practice

Abstract

No single event hitherto has stumped the world more significantly than the present Corona pandemic. In a short span of a few months, the world economy, healthcare, livelihood, and human survival have been direly threatened by the rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities. While dispensations across the world are finding ways to tackle the pestilence, the medical fraternity faces a unique conundrum. On the one side, the health care team is at the forefront fighting the disease and saving patients from the grip of death. On the other side, the healthcare industry is facing a crisis in terms of safety of healthcare personnel, difficulties in online tele-healthcare, economic sustainability, challenges in healthcare education and other problems in safe health care delivery. The authors provide a broad perspective at the current pandemic and its implications on orthopaedic practice in the near future.

Minimally Invasive Procedures, Perioperative Telemedicine, and Decreased Hospital Stays Following Covid-19 Surgical Restrictions: Spinal Surgery

“…Consequently, different methods of minimizing patients' risk of infection postoperatively were explored. Options such as an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) setting where patients were found to likely have a decreased risk of COVID-19 compared to their counterparts at larger hospitals or remote monitoring through telemedicine were considered as alternatives to traditional postoperative hospitalization when possible [44,[48][49][50].…”

Orthopaedic Surgery Training and Education During COVID-19

“…Studies projected a surge in inpatient demand that would exceed both general ward and intensive care unit (ICU) capacity by 10fold 1 . The health care industry was forced to conserve resources and try to balance patients' safe access to non-COVID-19-related medical care 2 . By March 2020, the US Surgeon General urged the termination of elective surgeries, which was accompanied by a similar announcement by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons the following month 3 .…”

“…By March 2020, the US Surgeon General urged the termination of elective surgeries, which was accompanied by a similar announcement by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons the following month 3 . As a result, orthopaedic surgical volume significantly decreased 2 . Moreover, the composition of surgical volume moved away from elective cases 4 and toward acute traumatic injuries and fracture care, causing a decrease in the diversity of cases for resident education 5 .…”