The long road to recovery: at six months since the first COVID‐19 wave, elective orthopedic care has still not fully recovered in Belgium

作者：Yuhan Tan, PJ. Vandekerckhove, Peter Verdonk · 发表于：Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1186/s40634-020-00316-9 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：COVID-19 and healthcare impacts、Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes、Bone fractures and treatments

PURPOSE: The primary aim of our study was to investigate elective orthopaedic care during the first wave government-imposed COVID-19 lockdown and at four weeks and 21 weeks after resuming elective care. The secondary aim of our study was to evaluate the implementation of the European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA) COVID-19 Guidelines and Recommendations for Resuming Elective Surgery in the clinical practice of Belgian knee surgeons. METHODS: We sent three anonymous online surveys to 102 Belgian Knee Society members (BKS) at times mentioned above. Addressed topics were: (1) participant demographics, (2) elective surgeries, (3) outpatient visits, (4) ESSKA Guidelines, (5) patient and surgeon safety. RESULTS: During the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a decrease of 97% in elective knee surgeries and 91% in outpatient visits. At four and 21 weeks after resuming elective care, volumes were respectively 67% and 89% for elective surgeries and 81% and 91% for outpatient visits. Regarding ESSKA guidelines, 91% of surgeons had no COVID-19 testing prior to resuming elective care. Ninety-two per cent reported preoperative (< 72 h) patient PCR testing, and 45% gave preference to young patients without comorbidities. Seventy-two per cent did not use additional personal protective equipment (PPE) if a patient PCR test was negative. Forty-nine per cent continued to give preference to general anaesthesia. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that elective surgeries a...