Introduction: COVID-19 has had a significant impact on healthcare systems. We aim to quantify the impact of this outbreak on shoulder and elbow trauma in our institution.
Methods: We prospectively collected data on patients presenting to our hospital with shoulder and elbow injuries during COVID-19. This included the number of attendances to the emergency department, fracture clinic, inpatient admissions and operative treatments. This was compared to a pre-COVID-19 period. We also assessed the efficacy of telephone clinics.
Results: There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of emergency department and fracture clinic attendances with upper limb complaints. The number of in-person fracture clinic reviews also decreased, with a reciprocal exponential increase in telephone consultations. We recorded a decrease in the number of shoulder and elbow trauma procedures performed. There was a small increase in the proportion of injuries treated conservatively during COVID-19. Our telephone clinics yielded a diagnosis and management plan in many cases and patient perspective appeared favourable.
Conclusion: We have noted significant change in the upper limb caseload. Certain injuries have reduced, likely due to COVID-19 lockdown. Moreover, we consider several changes to current practices could be taken forward after the pandemic.
Keywords: COVID; elbow; response; shoulder; trauma.
© 2020 The British Elbow & Shoulder Society.