Analysis Of Mortality Following Trauma And Orthopaedic Surgery At The Peak Of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Table 1 Characteristics and laboratory finding of the nine patients that had mortality during the peak of the pandemic Sr. No Age Sex ASA Surgical Procedure COVID-19 Test Status Time to surgery (hours) Time to death (days) Comorbidities Complications Preop CRP Postop CRP Pre-op Lymphocytes count Post-op Lymphocytes count Preop WBC Postop WBC

Low 30-day mortality in South African orthopaedic patients undergoing surgery at an academic hospital during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: It was safe to perform orthopaedic procedures at our hospital during the first COVID-19 peak

“…We have summarised and described the findings in Table 2. The low 30-day mortality rate of our patient cohort during the first COVID-19 peak is similar to figures published by Sobti et al, [10] Karayiannis et al, [11] Price et al, [12] Hope et al [13] and Giorgi et al [14] (2.3% v. 4.3%, 1.9%, 3%, 4% and 4.6%, respectively), and is considerably lower than mortality rates reported in other regions in the UK and other developing countries (11.76% -53%). [5,[7][8][9]13] The specific reasons for this lower mortality rate are not clear from our study, but may be attributed to an overall younger population undergoing surgery in our academic hospital and many lower-risk procedures being performed during this timeframe.…”

“…As previously mentioned, our lower 30-day mortality rate was similar to several international studies, including the experience of a UK trauma and orthopaedics unit where 206 trauma and urgent orthopaedic surgical procedures were performed during the peak of the pandemic (1 March -31 May 2020). [10] Of these patients, 4.3% (n=9) died postoperatively; 55.5% of the deceased patients were SARS-CoV-2-negative, 1.45% (n=3) were SARS-CoV-2-positive postoperatively, and 1 patient presented as asymptomatic and was not tested before surgery. The authors promote the usefulness of comparing and evaluating single-centre practice.…”