Survey of AAHKS International Members on the Impact of COVID-19 on Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Practices

Alexander G Athey; Li Cao; Ken Okazaki; Luigi Zagra; Claudio C Castelli; Daniel O Kendoff; Joshua M Kerr; Adolph J Yates Jr; Jeffrey B Stambough; Rafael J Sierra

doi:10.1016/j.arth.2020.04.053

Survey of AAHKS International Members on the Impact of COVID-19 on Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Practices

J Arthroplasty. 2020 Jul;35(7S):S89-S94. doi: 10.1016/j.arth.2020.04.053. Epub 2020 Apr 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
² Department of Orthopaedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang, Xinjiang, China.
³ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Hip Department, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Milan, Italy.
⁵ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ospedale Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy.
⁶ Center for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, HELIOS Clinic Berlin-Buch, Germany.
⁷ AAHKS Deputy Executive Director, Rosemont, IL.
⁸ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA.
⁹ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR.

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses an important risk to global health.

Methods: This study surveyed 370 international orthopedic surgeons affiliated with the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons to help identify the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient care.

Results: A total of 99 surgeons (27% of those surveyed) completed the questionnaire representing 32 different countries. Except for surgeons in Japan, all respondents noted that their practice had been affected to some degree and 70% of the surgeons have canceled elective procedures. More than a third of the surgeons have had to close their practices altogether and the remaining open practices were estimated to be sustainable for 7 weeks on average given their current situation.

Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in marked changes to the majority of international arthroplasty practices.

Keywords: AAHKS; COVID-19; THA; TKA; arthroplasty; international.

MeSH terms

Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip*
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee*
Betacoronavirus*
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections* / prevention & control
Humans
Orthopedic Surgeons
Pandemics* / prevention & control
Pneumonia, Viral* / prevention & control
SARS-CoV-2
Surveys and Questionnaires