Introduction:

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on orthopedic trauma surgery is not well characterized in the literature. We provided an evaluation of such impact in a tertiary hospital in Portugal.

Material and Methods:

Retrospective analysis of the patients admitted for surgical treatment due to acute orthopedic trauma from March to December of 2019 and March to December of 2020.

Results:

A total of 794 patients in 2019 and 728 in 2020 were included. Although the mean time to surgery was shorter the hospital stay was longer in 2020. Infected patients had a longer hospital stay and longer time until surgery compared to non-infected. There was no significant difference between the mortality and need for treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) in both years. There was a significant increase in the number of polytrauma patients treated in our institution in 2020 compared to 2019.

Conclusion:

Orthopedic trauma surgery was globally influenced by the pandemic. Safe and effective measures should be adopted in the treatment of trauma patients, to reduce the clinical and economic impact.

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