Management of hip fractures during the COVID-19 pandemic at a high-volume hip fracture unit in the United Kingdom

Khalid Malik-Tabassum; Melissa Crooks; Alastair Robertson; Christopher To; Lucy Maling; Guy Selmon

doi:10.1016/j.jor.2020.06.018

Management of hip fractures during the COVID-19 pandemic at a high-volume hip fracture unit in the United Kingdom

J Orthop. 2020 Jul 2:20:332-337. doi: 10.1016/j.jor.2020.06.018. eCollection 2020 Jul-Aug.

Authors

Khalid Malik-Tabassum¹, Melissa Crooks¹, Alastair Robertson¹, Christopher To¹, Lucy Maling¹, Guy Selmon¹

Affiliation

¹ Conquest Hospital, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Hastings, TN37 7RD, UK.

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the treatment pathway and 30-day outcomes of hip fracture patients admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic with the pre-pandemic period. Three periods were retrospectively analysed: period C = 23/03/2020-11/05/2020, period A = 23/03/2018-11/05/2018, period B = 23/03/2019-11/05/2019. No statistically significant differences in time to surgery, type of treatment, complications, and mortality rates were noted. A significant reduction (p = 0.021) in the time to orthogeriatric assessment and length of inpatient stay (p < 0.001) was found in period C. Institutional adaptions to facilitate prompt treatment in hip fractures during the pandemic resulted in favourable outcomes.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Hip fractures; SARS-CoV-2; Trauma.