Effect evaluation of perioperative management strategy for the elderly with hip fractures during pandemic of corona virus disease 2019 / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the perioperative management strategy for the elderly with hip fractures during the epidemic of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and evaluate its clinical effect.Methods:A retrospective case series study was conducted on 33 elderly patients with hip fractures admitted to Chongqing General Hospital, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, from January 20 to February 29, 2020, including 14 males and 19 females, aged 65-92 years [(76.5±6.3)years]. There were 20 patients with intertrochanteric fractures and 14 with femoral neck fractures. In total, 15 patients were combined with hypertension and 9 with diabetes. A total of 19 patients were treated with open reduction and internal fixation and 14 with total hip/semi-hip replacement. The time from injury to admission was 2-14 hours. The temperature measurement, routine blood test and chest CT examination were performed to exclude COVID-19 in all patients, which showed 12 patients with pulmonary infection. The medical staff received different levels of protection first level protection for those in the special ward, secondary level protection for the emergency isolation ward and tertiary level protection for those collecting the throat swab samples. The time from admission to operation, intensive care unit (ICU) stay time, hospitalization time, visual analogue score (VAS), perioperative complications as well as infection of patients and medical staff were observed and recorded.Results:The time from admission to operation was (3.18±0.19)days for all patients, with (2.24±0.28)days for 21 patients with no obvious pulmonary abnormality and (4.83±0.39)days for 12 with pulmonary infection. The hospitalization time was (10.97±0.31)days in all patients, with (9.71±0.27)days for 21 patients with no obvious pulmonary abnormality and (12.51±0.78)days for 12 with pulmonary infection. After operation, 12 patients were treated in ICU for 1-3 days, and the rest 21 patients were treated in general wards. The pain of all patients was effectively controlled. The time for exercise was (4.0±1.4)days after operation in all patients, among which 19 treated with fracture reduction and internal fixation started at (4.3±1.3)days after operation and 14 treated with total hip/semi-hip replacement started at (3.6±1.3)days after operation. VAS was (4.55±0.29)points at 12 hours before operation, (5.62±1.12)points at 6 hours, (3.54±0.39)points at 24 hours, and (2.42±0.11)points at 72 hours after operation ( P<0.05). Chest CT showed that the pulmonary inflammation was significantly improved one day before discharge. There was no indication of nucleic acid detection, with no urinary tract infection, pressure sore, deep vein thrombosis or other complications were found. No infection of patients or medical staff occurred. Conclusion:During pandemic of COVID-19, early surgical treatment for the elderly with hip fractures can be done in the general wards, based on strictly following the principle of infection prevention and control and carefully evaluating the perioperative risks, which can avoid the probability of infection of patients and medical staff without prolonging the hospitalization time or increasing the incidence of complications.