ORTHOPEDIC SERVICES IN COVID-19, EXPERIENCE OF REMOTE RURAL AREA HOSPITAL OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is the worse pandemic disease of this era which has involved all countries and almost every hospital around the world. This disease, until date, has involved more than 50,000,000 populations, and around more than 1,300,000 peoples died worldwide. In Pakistan, there are about 400,000 cases and almost more than 7,000 peoples died. Objectives: The purpose of our study is to know the work load of orthopedic department during this deadly pandemic and make arrangements to prepare for the worse conditions likely to happen in near future. Methods: Our study was descriptive type that was conducted during the period from 2nd March 2nd to Nov 2nd, 2020 at Mohammad Medical College and Hospital, Mirpurkhas Pakistan. In this study, we included all patients admitted to orthopedic department during the study period. This period was when COVID-19 started to peak and governments announced some lockdown in specific areas of our country. All patients admitted during this period were critically analyzed with their detailed profile such as detailed history, reason for admission; management; delayed surgical intervention if any and hospital stay were noted in structured proforma. Authors utilized SPSS version 25 for data entry and analysis. The data was collected after getting approval from Hospital Ethical committee. Results: In our study, 88 patients were admitted to Orthopedic Department. There were 54 (61.6%) males and 34 (38.6%) females. Among study participants, 76(86.3%) patients were admitted due to trauma, 12 (13.6%) patients for infection. There were 66(75%) patients treated surgically and the remaining 22(25%) were treated conservatively. The average stay in hospital was 6.7 days ranging from 3-15 days. Conclusion: Trauma is a major reason for disability if not treated properly in any disastrous situation. After a pandemic disease like COVID-19, once situations become normal people with untreated trauma lives a very miserable life with limited mobility and limited working capacity. Hospitals need to be prepared for safety of patients and health care workers. Furthermore, hospitals must also be ready to provide proper and urgent medical care in any sort of natural disaster