The impact of COVID-19 on hand surgery: A French retrospective comparative study in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 hand trauma centers

Hand Injuries During COVID-19 UK Lockdown: How Did the Pandemic Affect 1-Year Functional Outcomes?

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic in March 2020, forcing the United Kingdom into a national lockdown. The aim was to evaluate the effect of this lockdown on hand injuries referred through the trauma and orthopedics virtual fracture clinic (VFC) service and their subsequent management given limited resources. This study also aimed to identify complications and evaluate functional outcomes.

METHODS

Patients referred through VFC at Queen Alexandra Hospital during April and May 2020 with hand injuries were analyzed. Isolated injuries to the carpus and wrist were excluded. Controls were compared over identical time spans prior to lockdown and after the restrictions were eased. Functional outcomes were measured using the Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (QuickDASH) score, at 12 months after injury.

RESULTS

There was a 68% reduction in referrals of hand injuries during lockdown. Lower numbers of sporting injuries were seen, in contrast to an increased rate of falls, crush injuries, and recreational cycling. Despite a higher number of patients being discharged from VFC during lockdown, there were no increased rates of complications from conservatively managed hand fractures. Eighty percent reported low QuickDASH scores with a median of 2.3. Satisfaction was high, with 73% either satisfied or very satisfied with their treatment and outcome.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that there remains a burden of hand trauma during lockdowns, and therefore, service provision for future lockdowns should consider this. Most patients can be managed conservatively, and a high proportion can be discharged from VFC with low complication rates and high satisfaction.

[Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic context on the microbiological epidemiology and management of flexor sheath phlegmons]

Introduction

La pandémie liée au COVID-19 en France a récemment contribué à modifier le mode de vie des patients, ainsi que les modalités de prise en charge médicochirurgicale. Ces facteurs pourraient être la source de modification du spectre microbiologique, de la gravité ainsi que de l’évolutivité des phlegmons des gaines des fléchisseurs. L’objectif de cette étude était de faire un état des lieux épidémiologique et bactériologique de ces infections de la main et de comparer les données cliniques et microbiologiques avant et après la crise sanitaire due à la COVID-19.

Hypothèse

L’hypothèse de ce travail était que les phlegmons des gaines des fléchisseurs présentaient des caractéristiques microbiologiques spécifiques dans notre Centre hospitalier universitaire en milieu tropical, et que celles-ci ont également pu se modifier avec l’introduction récente de solution hydro-alcoolique liée à la pandémie COVID-19.

Matériel et méthodes

Entre janvier 2016 et décembre 2020, l’ensemble des données épidémiologiques préopératoires de nos patients ont été colligées. Le stade de gravité selon Michon, l’usage de solution hydro-alcoolique, ainsi que l’évolution clinique précoce, ont été recueillis. La cohorte était ensuite divisée en deux groupes afin de comparer les profils microbiologiques, la prise en charge et l’évolution clinique des patients en période pré-COVID de ceux en période post-COVID.

Résultats

Un total de 199 patients ont été inclus, 154 patients en période pré-COVID et 26 en période post-COVID. On retrouvait une majorité de SASM (58,3 %, n = 105) et 18,9 % de prélèvements négatifs (n = 34). Aucune différence statistiquement significative n’était retrouvée entre les deux groupes concernant les résultats bactériologiques. L’évolution clinique était jugée comme favorable dans 93,5 % des cas du groupe pré-COVID contre 80,8 % dans le groupe post-COVID (p = 0,046). L’utilisation de SHA (p < 0,0001) ainsi que le stade de sévérité initial selon Michon étaient significativement plus importants dans le groupe 2 (p = 0,04).

Discussion

La pandémie liée à la COVID-19 n’a pas montré de changement du spectre microbiologique, bien que l’usage de SHA se soit introduit dans nos vies quotidiennes. L’évolution clinique postopératoire était significativement moins favorable après l’apparition de la COVID et pourrait s’expliquer par une augmentation des cas ayant un stade de gravité initial plus avancé.

Niveau de preuve

IV, étude épidémiologique observationnelle.

Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic context on the microbiological epidemiology and management of flexor sheath phlegmons

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic in France has recently modified the patients' lifestyles, as well as methods of medical and surgical management. This could explain subsequent changes to the microbiological spectrum, the severity, as well as the scalability of phlegmons of the flexor tendon sheath. The objective of this study was to construct an epidemiological and bacteriological inventory of these hand infections, and to compare the clinical and microbiological data, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

HYPOTHESIS

The hypothesis of this work was that the phlegmons of the flexor tendon sheath presented specific microbiological characteristics in the tropical environment of our University Hospital Center, and that these characteristics could have changed with the recent introduction of hydro-alcoholic solution (HAS) associated to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The preoperative epidemiological data of our patients were collected between January 2016 and December 2020. The stage of severity, according to the classification of Michon, the use of hydro-alcoholic solution, as well as the early clinical evolution were collected. The cohort was then divided into two groups in order to compare the microbiological profiles, the management and the clinical evolution of patients in the pre-COVID period with those in the post-COVID period.

RESULTS

A total of 199 patients were included, 154 patients in the pre-COVID period and 26 in the post-COVID period. We found a majority of MSSA (58.3%, N=105) and negative samples comprised 18.9% (N=34). No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the bacteriological results. The clinical course was judged to be favorable in 93.5% of cases in the pre-COVID group compared to 80.8% in the post-COVID group (p=0.046). The use of HAS (p<0.0001), as well as the initial stage of severity according to Michon, were significantly higher in group 2 (p=0.04).

DISCUSSION

The COVID-19 pandemic has not shown any change in the microbiological spectrum, despite the now daily use of HAS in everyday life. The postoperative clinical evolution was significantly less favorable after the onset of COVID and could be explained by an increase in cases with a more advanced initial stage of severity.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV, Observational epidemiological study.

One Year of COVID-19: Lessons Learned in a Hand Trauma Center

2020 will be remembered worldwide as the year of COVID-19 outbreak. The onset of this pandemic abruptly changed everybody’s life and, in a particular manner, doctors’ lives. Our hand surgery department became rapidly one of the first COVID-19-specialized wards in Italy, impacting considerably the authors’ routines and activities. In this paper, the authors focus on how the demographics of patients with hand trauma changed and how they had to modify their activity. The authors retrospectively took into consideration all patients reaching their emergency department (ED) with hand trauma between 9 March 2020 (the day of the beginning of the first lockdown in Italy) and 8 March 2021 and compared them to those who reached the ED in the three previous years. Authors have analyzed the number of patients, their gender and age, the severity of their trauma, where the trauma occurred, the type of lesion, the percentage of patients who underwent surgery, and the percentage of patients who had an emergency admission. In the last year, the number of patients reaching the ED for a hand trauma has been reduced by two thirds (975 patients during the past year), the mean age of those patients has slightly increased, the severity of cases has increased, places of trauma and type of lesions have changed, and, lastly, the percentage of patients needing surgery who were admitted immediately has increased. This paper shows how the type of patients reaching the ED changed and discusses how surgeons evolved and modified their habits in treating those patients during the first lockdown and the year that followed.