Department of Orthopedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
Division of Plastic Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2020 Aug 5;102(15):e87. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.20.00773.
Currently, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has rapidly spread worldwide. As the earliest outbreak area of the pandemic, Wuhan, People's Republic of China, is gradually recovering to its normal state under the effective control of government authorities. Outpatient services in major hospitals are now being restored. An accumulation of asymptomatic infections is a potential risk for medical personnel, especially when there is crowding in hospitals. As the biggest center for orthopaedic patients in Wuhan, our orthopaedic outpatient department admits >300 patients per day. Optimal guidelines on how to handle this huge number of patients during the post-outbreak stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with regard to potential asymptomatic infection, are urgently needed for orthopaedic surgeons. We have developed and proposed applicable guidelines to fill this knowledge gap, including the necessary protective strategies for medical personnel in orthopaedic outpatient and inpatient wards as well as during surgery. We also have provided mental health recommendations for health-care workers. To the best of our knowledge, these guidelines are the first of their kind for orthopaedic surgeons who are slowly reestablishing medical activity following the pandemic.
目前，2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）危机已在全球迅速蔓延。作为大流行的最早爆发地区，中华人民共和国武汉市在政府当局的有效控制下逐渐恢复正常状态。各大医院的门诊服务正在恢复。无症状感染的积累是医务人员的潜在风险，尤其是在医院拥挤时。作为武汉最大的骨科患者中心，我们的骨科门诊每天收治超过 300 名患者。对于骨科医生来说，在 COVID-19 大流行的疫情后阶段，特别是在潜在的无症状感染方面，急需关于如何处理如此大量患者的最佳指南。我们已经制定并提出了适用的指南来填补这一知识空白，包括骨科门诊和住院病房以及手术期间医务人员所需的防护策略。我们还为医务人员提供了心理健康建议。据我们所知，这些指南是大流行后缓慢恢复医疗活动的骨科医生的首创。
