Elective Orthopaedic Surgery During COVID-19: A Safe Way to Get Back on Track

Claudio Zorzi; Gianluca Piovan; Daniele Screpis; Simone Natali; Stefania Marocco; Venanzio Iacono

doi:10.2106/JBJS.OA.20.00084

Elective Orthopaedic Surgery During COVID-19: A Safe Way to Get Back on Track

JB JS Open Access. 2020 Nov 17;5(4):e20.00084. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.OA.20.00084. eCollection 2020 Oct-Dec.

Authors

Claudio Zorzi¹, Gianluca Piovan¹, Daniele Screpis¹, Simone Natali¹, Stefania Marocco¹, Venanzio Iacono¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Orthopaedics (C.Z., G.P., D.S., S.N., and V.I.) and Department of Infectious-Tropical Diseases and Microbiology (S.M.), IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Negrar di Valpolicella, Italy.

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has greatly changed our way of living and working. We have developed a method to treat urgent patients in a safe way, and we applied the same protocol to resume elective surgical procedures.

Methods: We reorganized the system and the management of our orthopaedic department to perform elective surgical procedures in a safe way. During the COVID-19 lockdown, 614 patients underwent elective orthopaedic procedures.

Results: No major postoperative complications were recorded. None of the orthopaedic surgeons, health-care personnel, or hospitalized patients was infected in this period of activity.

Conclusions: During COVID-19, it is possible to perform elective surgical procedures in a safe way.