Background and aims: The coronavirus outbreak significantly changed the need of healthcare services. We hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic decreased the frequency of pediatric fracture operations. We also hypothesized that the frequency of emergency pediatric surgical operations decreased as well, as a result of patient-related reasons, such as neglecting or underestimating the symptoms, to avoid hospital admission.
Materials and methods: Nationwide data were individually collected and analyzed in all five tertiary pediatric surgical/trauma centers in Finland. Operations related to fractures, appendicitis, and acute scrotum in children aged above 16 years between March 1 and May 31 from 2017 to 2020 were identified. The monthly frequencies of operations and type of traumas were compared between prepandemic 3 years and 2020.
Results: Altogether, 1755 patients were identified in five tertiary hospitals who had an emergency operation during the investigation period. There was a significant decrease (31%, p = 0.03) in trauma operations. It was mostly due to reduction in lower limb trauma operations (32%, p = 0.006). Daycare, school, and organized sports-related injuries decreased significantly during the pandemic. These reductions were observed in March and in April. The frequencies of appendectomies and scrotal explorations remained constant.
Conclusion: According to the postulation, a great decrease in the need of trauma operations was observed during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic. In the future, in case similar public restrictions are ordered, the spared resources could be deployed to other clinical areas. However, the need of pediatric surgical emergencies held stable during the COVID-19 restrictions.
Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; fractures; pandemic; pediatric orthopedics; pediatric surgery.