EN
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiology of distal radius fractures
Abstract
Objective: Distal radius fractures are one of the fracture types seen most often in the Emergency Department. Therefore, the incidence of distal radius fractures could be of guidance in determining how fracture incidence is affected by a reduction in a normal community activity. The aim of this study was to compare the epidemiology of distal radius fractures in a 6-month period of the COVID-19 pandemic with an equivalent time period in the year before the pandemic and to reveal changes associated with the pandemic.
Method: A comparison was made of patients who presented at our hospital with a distal radius fracture between 1 April 2020 and 30 September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and those who presented in the equivalent period in 2019, in respect of epidemiology and treatments applied. The demographic data were examined and patients were evaluated with respect to the presence or not of COVID-19.
Results: The number of distal radius fractures was determined to have statistically significantly decreased from 108 patients in 2019 to 71 in 2020 (p<0.001). The ratio of patients treated conservatively was found to have statistically significantly increased in 2020 (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was determined between 2019 and 2020 in respect of age groups and ASA scores (p>0.05).
Conclusions: The most important finding of this study was that the number of patients with a distal radius fracture decreased significantly in the pandemic period in 2020 compared to the equivalent 6-month period in 2019. Although the efficacy of conservative treatment remains controversial, the increase in the rate of conservative treatment applied during the pandemic provided the advantage of patients avoiding potentially fatal complications of novel coronavirus infection.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Health Care Administration
Journal Section
Research Article
Publication Date
March 31, 2021
Submission Date
December 23, 2020
Acceptance Date
January 22, 2021
Published in Issue
Year 1970 Volume: 43 Number: 1
AMA
1.Aktı S, Çankaya D. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiology of distal radius fractures. CMJ. 2021;43(1):79-84. doi:10.7197/cmj.845498