AbstractWith a lot of uncertainty, unclear, and frequently changing management protocols, COVID-19 has significantly impacted the orthopaedic surgical practice during this pandemic crisis. Surgeons around the world needed closed introspection, contemplation, and prospective consensual recommendations for safe surgical practice and prevention of viral contamination. One hundred orthopaedic surgeons from 50 countries were sent a Google online form with a questionnaire explicating protocols for admission, surgeries, discharge, follow-up, relevant information affecting their surgical practices, difficulties faced, and many more important issues that happened during and after the lockdown. Ten surgeons critically construed and interpreted the data to form rationale guidelines and recommendations. Of the total, hand and microsurgery surgeons (52%), trauma surgeons (32%), joint replacement surgeons (20%), and arthroscopy surgeons (14%) actively participated in the survey. Surgeons from national public health care/government college hospitals (44%) and private/semiprivate practitioners (54%) were involved in the study. Countries had lockdown started as early as January 3, 2020 with the implementation of partial or complete lifting of lockdown in few countries while writing this article. Surgeons (58%) did not stop their surgical practice or clinics but preferred only emergency cases during the lockdown. Most of the surgeons (49%) had three-fourths reduction in their total patients turn-up and the remaining cases were managed by conservative (54%) methods. There was a 50 to 75% reduction in the number of surgeries. Surgeons did perform emergency procedures without COVID-19 tests but preferred reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR; 77%) and computed tomography (CT) scan chest (12%) tests for all elective surgical cases. Open fracture and emergency procedures (60%) and distal radius (55%) fractures were the most commonly performed surgeries. Surgeons preferred full personal protection equipment kits (69%) with a respirator (N95/FFP3), but in the case of unavailability, they used surgical masks and normal gowns. Regional/local anesthesia (70%) remained their choice for surgery to prevent the aerosolized risk of contaminations. Essential surgical follow-up with limited persons and visits was encouraged by 70% of the surgeons, whereas teleconsultation and telerehabilitation by 30% of the surgeons. Despite the protective equipment, one-third of the surgeons were afraid of getting infected and 56% feared of infecting their near and dear ones. Orthopaedic surgeons in private practice did face 50 to 75% financial loss and have to furlough 25% staff and 50% paramedical persons. Orthopaedics meetings were cancelled, and virtual meetings have become the preferred mode of sharing the knowledge and experiences avoiding human contacts. Staying at home, reading, and writing manuscripts became more interesting and an interesting lifestyle change is seen among the surgeons. Unanimously and without any doubt all accepted the fact that COVID-19 pandemic has reached an unprecedented level where personal hygiene, hand washing, social distancing, and safe surgical practices are the viable antidotes, and they have all slowly integrated these practices into their lives. Strict adherence to local authority recommendations and guidelines, uniform and standardized norms for admission, inpatient, and discharge, mandatory RT-PCR tests before surgery and in selective cases with CT scan chest, optimizing and regularizing the surgeries, avoiding and delaying nonemergency surgeries and follow-up protocols, use of teleconsultations cautiously, and working in close association with the World Health Organization and national health care systems will provide a conducive and safe working environment for orthopaedic surgeons and their fraternity and also will prevent the resurgence of COVID-19.

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Currently, the importance of human anatomical dissection have come under debate in many countries but there are not references in Venezuela on this concern. This survey's aim is to assess the insights of Venezuelan surgeons and their outlines of usage of human anatomical dissection in teaching and learning human anatomy. Sixty-five Venezuelan surgeons at the Centro Médico Docente La Trinidad completed an anonymous survey on current and future teaching practices in human anatomy. Eighty-nine point two three percent of surveyed (n=58) conferred importance to human anatomical dissection despite the arrival of new innovations in learning human anatomy. The group surveyed view human anatomical dissection-based teaching as the most beneficial method of teaching human anatomy and it should be bolstered in human anatomical education with matching use of three-dimensional computerized tomography imaging as a complementary form for teaching and learning.

José María Vargas (1786-1854): Venezuelan medical doctor, surgeon, optician, anatomist, chemist, botanist, professor, geologist, mineralogist, and mathematician. Second President of Venezuela (1835-1836), First republican dean, he reformed medicine studies in 1827 establishing human anatomical dissection in the Universidad Central de Venezuela where he taught human anatomy between 1827 and 1853 along with surgery and chemistry. In 1838, he wrote Curso de Lecciones y demostraciones Anatómicas, the first book on the subject printed in Venezuela for the teaching of human anatomy.

The outbreak of the coronavirus effects on people’s daily lives. Like nothing most people have experienced before, one of the many affected sectors is education. In response to Covid-19 pandemic, medical education faculty have quickly transitioned the curriculum to online formats. But no matter the quality of the online resource, do not provide the same level of understanding of complex anatomical relationships as studying human bodies. Under restriction of social isolation because of Covid-19 pandemic, human anatomical dissection takes a compulsory break. Afterward students will come back to their essential training in dissection room