Lockdown of an Orthopedic Department during COVID-19 Epidemics, Our Experience in a General Hospital

The COVID-19 disease is rapidly spreading around the world, affecting many countries and their healthcare systems. Like many other countries, Iran is struggling with the current situation. In this article, we aim to share our perspectives on confronting obstacles mentioned above using appropriate hospital protocols during the COVID-19 crisis. We investigated and compared the number of referred patients to the emergency room, elective, and emergent orthopedic operations in our hospital, along with a number of residents and faculty participants in the morning reports and virtual classes before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 in our hospital. The number of referred patients to the emergency room was significantly reduced; the number of orthopedic operations was also decreased to almost zero in March 2020. Meanwhile, we managed to dismiss our residents and reduce the number of in-hospital morning reports and conferences. Instead, we designed virtual classes, and the number of participants in our virtual classes grew to almost two-third of the whole participant. We also managed to fortify our virtual office system to reduce the number of in-hospital visits. Since our hospital had become a leading center for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, and the number of referred trauma patients, elective, and trauma operations, along with educational activities, was reduced. There was also a significant concern about the management of elective, trauma, and post-operative patients in this era. Orthopedic faculty members needed to react to the current situation cautiously. We were able to manage the situation with consideration of our educational path, along with the management of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the use of communication technologies and specific protocols to overcome the obstacles mentioned above. Yet involved our staff and With orthopedic faculties active involvement at in-hospital activitie and establishment of hospital protocols considering technological facilities and WHO guidelines, we can improve education, management of PPE, and both orthopedic elective and trauma patients.