Orthopaedics

Orthopaedic Emergencies In Covid Times

Orthopaedic Emergencies In Covid Times Jun 28, 2020

What are the orthopaedic emergencies needing attention/hospital admission?

An orthopedic emergency is any case of trauma with any of the following -

Threat to life because of the trauma.
Threat to the limb.
Threat of any permanent disability or impairment.

Now orthopaedics covers a wide array of cases ranging from severe trauma to cold cases. However all of them don't fall under the category of 'orthopaedic emergencies'. A few orthopaedic emergencies are listed below-

All polytrauma cases (threat to life /limb).
All cases of fracture (threat to limb).
All joint dislocations.
All cases of osteomyelitis.
All PIVD cases (prolapsed intervertebral disc in the spine)
Gangrene (threat to limb/life, if neglected)

An appeal to the public

Any patient with trauma following an RTA or an assault should be taken immediately to the nearest health facility, no matter how 'mild' the injury appears
Any patient with trauma following a fall at home should be taken to the nearest health facility
Any case of joint dislocation has to be taken immediately to the nearest healthcare facility

The lesser the number of persons accompanying the patient to the healthcare facility ,the better it is. Only 1or 2 persons should accompany the patient.

Please do not visit the OPD for a simple back pain or say a neck pain. It is always better to go for 'virtual orthopaedic OPD' through video calling.

However for intolerable symptoms, a visit to the emergency to seek opinion is always warranted.

The idea of visiting the nearest healthcare facility as early as possible is to provide primary care to the patient. If the facilities for definitive care isn't available in the index centre, the patient can later on be transferred to any higher center once the initial physiological stabilization is done.

COVID or no COVID , emergencies are emergencies and surgeries or manipulations has to be carried out, with proper care of course.

The department of orthopaedics, Fortis hospital Noida, has been providing seamless services since its inception and this COVID scenario is no different. The department is functioning in it's full capacity, with dynamic consultants and residents. Here are a few salient features of the services we are providing during COVID scenario -

Non Stop 24 hours running emergency department equipped with all the modern infrastructure and facilities and a team of the best of health care workers, both doctors as well as nurses and technicians
A blood bank of our own, in case of urgent need of transfusion
A fully running, 24 hours running emergency OT services, for life saving or limb saving surgeries such a DCO (damage control orthopedics), vessel repair, wound debridement
A fully modular OT, equipped with high tech modern infrastructure and health personnel and C-arms (for intraoperative evaluation of fixation), where all types of surgeries from trauma to amputation are carried out on a regular basis, even during the COVID times
All doctors and healthcare providers are following strict preventive measures as per the ICMR guidelines for COVID times
24X7 availability of all specialists and super specialities to tackle any kind of emergencies to an admitted patient
Virtual orthopaedic OPD services

A final word - 'Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures' as the saying goes. These are indeed extraordinary circumstances and we, at Fortis Healthcare want to assure all that during these times and beyond, we stand by your side for all your healthcare needs.

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