The Impact of the First Wave of Covid 19 on Orthopaedic Surgeries in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Background: The Covid 19 was declared a global pandemic that had a sizeable impact on the health care services in the surgical field including the orthopaedic department. There was additionally a decreased accessibility to healthcare personnel and facilities reallocated to manage the Covid patients. The study was mainly conducted to find out the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 on the orthopaedic surgeries.

Aim: The main aim of the study is to find out the alteration in the number, type of surgeries, financial implications, duration of hospital stay, delay in surgery during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Study Design: Retrospective crossectional study.

Methods: All the surgeries conducted in the orthopaedic department in the year 2019 and 2020 following first peak in March including pre-op and post-op COVID cases are included in the study. The procedure conducted, date of admission, date of surgery, date of discharge, investigations done and the cost expenses are the various parameters that are taken into consideration. The results are analysed for each year and comparisons are made using statistical methods.

Results: The comparative analysis of the data collected from the years 2019 and 2020 showed an increase in the duration of hospital stay, delay in surgery, additional expenditure, back log in the number of elective surgeries done during the Pandemic.