Ayaz E. Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on ultrasound screening of developmental dysplasia of the hip and follow-up imaging: a report from southeastern Turkey.
J Int Med Res 2022;
50:3000605221133009. [PMID:
36324259 PMCID:
PMC9634194 DOI:
10.1177/03000605221133009]
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Abstract
Objective
To investigate the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 restrictions on
ultrasound (US) screening of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) in a
children’s hospital.
Methods
The records of US screening of DDH were retrospectively evaluated in the
pandemic period (April 2020 to July 2021) and the pre-pandemic period
(January 2019 to February 2020). The monthly US number, sex, radiologist
number, and age at the initial examination were recorded.
Results
A total of 6107 US scans were performed during the pre-pandemic period, which
significantly decreased to 3340 during the pandemic. The number of monthly
US scans performed did not change between the pre-pandemic (142.7/month) and
pandemic (128.2/month) periods. The number of delayed examinations in the
total population did not significantly change between the two periods.
However, the number of delayed examinations in patients with abnormal hips
was significantly increased during the pandemic compared with that in the
pre-pandemic period.
Conclusions
Coronavirus disease 2019 restrictions decreased the US screening rate of DDH
by almost half, but the number of US scans performed by each radiologist was
unchanged. The compliance with follow-up recommendations was reduced by
half, which may lead to an increase in the incidence of delayed and
untreated DDH cases.
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