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BACKGROUND: To date, no recommendations have been published on when and how to start again carrying out elective, non-urgent surgery on COVID-19-negative patients after the epidemic peak has been reached in a given country or region and the pressure on healthcare facilities, healthcare workers and resources has been released by so far that elective surgery procedures can be safely and ethically programmed again. This study aims to investigate whether elective orthopaedic surgery will increase the risk of developing COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a combined retrospective and prospective studies performed at a national tertiary hospital in Jakarta, Indonesia. Subjects were patients who underwent elective orthopaedic surgeries at our institution from April to May 2020. Those who were previously infected with COVID-19 from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reverse transcriptase (RT) examination obtained via nasopharynx and oropharynx swab, as well as those who were reluctant to participate were excluded from the study. RESULTS: A total of 35 subjects (mean age 32.89 ± 17.42) were recruited. Fifteen (42.9%) subjects were male, and 20 subjects (57.1%) were female. Mean duration of surgery was 240 min with the longest and shortest duration of 690 and 40 min, respectively. General anaesthesia was performed in the majority of cases in 18 surgeries (51.4%) with local anaesthesia as the least in 2 surgeries (5.7%). Length of stay of our study was 6 days of average. None of the patients developed symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 infection. CONCLUSION: We found that elective orthopaedic surgery may not be associated with increased cases of COVID-19 cases. However, our study was limited by short duration of follow-up. Further studies are required in order to investigate the affect of undergoing elective surgery and the number of COVID-19 cases.
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PURPOSE: To determine the association between type of surgery (wide resection versus curettage with adjuvant therapy) and outcome in patients with giant cell tumour (GCT) of bone. METHODS: Records of 30 male and 52 female consecutive patients aged 10 to 62 years who underwent wide resection (n=57) or curettage with adjuvant therapy (n=25) for primary GCT of bone were reviewed. The surgical decision was based on patient age, tumour location, functional demand, and patient preference. The median tumour size was 8.5 cm. Tumours were classified as stage 1 (n=4), stage 2 (n=60), and stage 3 (n=18), and 25%, 68.3%, and 83.3% of them were treated with wide resection, respectively. Functional outcome was assessed using the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) score; the maximum score was 30. RESULTS: The wide resection and curettage with adjuvant therapy groups were comparable in terms of patient age, gender, tumour size, location, symptoms, tumour stage, type of biopsy, and MSTS score. The MSTS score was excellent in 50.2% of patients, good in 38.7% of patients, and fair and poor in the remaining patients. The MSTS score was not associated with tumour stage or type of surgery. Four patients in the wide resection group had metastasis to the lung. They also had lower haemoglobin level (10.6 vs. 12.7 g/dl, p=0.020) and higher percentage of stage-3 tumour (100% vs. 17.9%, p=0.001) but had no recurrence (0% vs. 6.4%, p=0.774), compared with those without metastatsis. All died from massive haemoptysis and respiratory failure. Eight patients died; their haemoglobin level was lower than that of patients who were still living (11.2 vs. 12.7 g/dl, p=0.032). Mortality was associated with metastasis (100% vs 5.2%, p<0.001) but not recurrence or complication. Two patients in each group had recurrence; recurrence was not associated with type of surgery. CONCLUSION: There was no association between type of surgery and tumour recurrence, metastasis, or outcome. Curettage with adjuvant therapy was more commonly performed for stage 1 and 2 tumours, whereas wide resection was more for stage 3 tumours. Metastasis was associated with stage 3 tumour and mortality but not recurrence.