Hip Fracture Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea
Jin-Won Chung, Yong‐Chan Ha, Mi‐Kyung Lee, Jin-Hak Kim, Jung-Wee Park, Kyung‐Hoi Koo
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to introduce a screening system for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), to evaluate the overall orthopedic management in hip fracture patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, and to compare the surgical results in hip fracture patients during the COVID-19 pandemic with those of the previous year. METHODS: Hip fracture patients who visited emergency rooms were screened at the screening clinics before admission. The medical management was carried out with the medical staff wearing surgical masks, meticulous hand hygiene observed, and a minimum distance of 2 m between patients maintained. The demographics, operative parameters, and surgical results of patients treated during the pandemic were compared with those from the previous year. RESULTS: = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 screening system for hip fracture patients has proven to be effective in preventing intrahospital spread of the disease. Hip fracture surgery performed during the COVID-19 pandemic has shown comparable results without any COVID-19 infection and COVID-19-related mortality.