A clinical pathway for pre-operative screening of COVID-19 and its influence on clinical outcome in patients with traumatic fractures

Purpose Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide pandemic. The toughest issue traumatic orthopaedic surgeons are faced with is how to maintain a balance between adequate COVID-19 screening and timely surgery. In this study, we described our experience with pre-operative COVID-19 screening in patients with traumatic fractures. Furthermore, we analysed the clinical results of fracture patients undergoing confined or emergency surgery during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods This was a case series study. Patients with traumatic fractures who were admitted to our hospital for surgery were enrolled in this study during the COVID-19 outbreak from March to April 2020. All patients were enrolled and managed using the standardized clinical pathway we designed for preoperative COVID-19 screening. Clinical, laboratory and outcome data were analysed. Results The average surgery waiting time from injury to surgery was 8.7 ± 3.4 days. The average waiting time from admission to surgery was 5.3 ± 2.8 days. These average waiting times were increased by 4.1 days and 2.0 days, respectively, compared with 2019 data. Cardiovascular complications, venous thromboembolism and pneumonia occurred in one, two and one patient, respectively. Three and two patients developed pre-operative and postoperative fevers, respectively. Conclusions We introduced a novel clinical pathway for pre-operatively screening of COVID-19 in traumatic orthopaedic patients. The delay in surgery caused by COVID-19 screening was minimized to a point at which reasonable and acceptable clinical outcomes were achieved. Doctors should pay more attention to perioperative complications, such as cardiovascular complications, venous thromboembolism, pneumonia and fever.