Elective surgery delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic led to a dip in some orthopedic procedures, a study found.
Researchers did a retrospective analysis of an academic hospital network eight months before and eight months after the cessation of elective surgeries. Revision surgeries for total knee replacements fell 30.1 percent during that time, and revision hip replacement procedures fell 6.8 percent.
The study, published in the Journal of Orthopedics on Nov. 24, looked at caseloads between July 15, 2019, and Nov. 15, 2020. Since then, pandemic-related surgery delays have continued as more waves of COVID-19 surfaced nationwide.
Multiple hospitals throughout the U.S. have delayed nonurgent and elective procedures since December as COVID-19 cases have risen nationwide.
For some orthopedic patients, nonurgent surgery delays have prolonged their pain. One woman has spent almost four months unable to walk on her own, CBS affiliate KMOV 4 reported Jan. 4. She planned to have a follow-up surgery on her foot in St. Louis, but the procedure was postponed because of COVID-19. Now she might have to wait until March to reschedule the surgery.