Impact of the Lockdown due to COVID-19 Pandemic on the Spectrum and Outcome of Trauma in India.

As a pre-emptive measure against the rampaging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2), the Government of India ordered an unprecedented but imperative step of a nationwide lockdown on 22nd March, 2020. The entire month of April 2020 remained in a complete national lockdown. We conducted this retrospective study to compare the spectrum and outcome of trauma victims who presented to our emergency department (ED) from April 2020 (lockdown period) to a similar season matched control arm of April 2018 (non-lockdown period). Our study groups included 403 trauma victims (trauma prevalence: 9.7%) from April 2020 as compared to 667 trauma victims (trauma prevalence: 10.8%) from April 2018 with an absolute decrease of -39.6% during the lockdown month. The intense lockdown resulted in an absolute decrease in the number of road traffic accidents (RTA) (-75.1%), sports-related injuries (-81.8%), bull gore injuries (-64.3%), workplace-related injuries (-50.0%), and fall from height (-3.5%). However, an absolute increase in the number of falls on level ground (FLG) (+95.7%), domestic trauma (+91.4%), and burn (+37.5%) patients were noted during the lockdown period. The proportion of trauma victims under the influence of alcohol, as determined by a positive blood alcohol content, was significantly lower in the lockdown period [adjusted OR: 0.34 (95% CI: 0.17-0.67); -value: 0.002] as were RTAs [adjusted OR: 0.44 (95% CI: 0.31-0.62); -value: <0.001], FLG [adjusted OR: 1.87 (95% CI: 1.14-3.06); -value: 0.0], and head injuries [adjusted OR: 0.21 (95% CI: 0.13-0.3); -value: <0.001]. During the stringent lockdown period of April 2020, there was a significant absolute decrease in the number of trauma victims, especially RTAs. The intense lockdown resulted in a significant decrease in the proportion of trauma victims under the influence of alcohol, head injuries, fractures, and dislocations. Hazra D, Jindal A, Fernandes JP, Abhilash KPP. Impact of the Lockdown due to COVID-19 Pandemic on the Spectrum and Outcome of Trauma in India. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(3): 273-278.