@article{ref1,
title="The hidden dangers of staying home: a London trauma unit experience of lockdown during the COVID-19 virus pandemic",
journal="Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England",
year="2021",
author="Oliver-Welsh, L. and Richardson, C. and Ward, D. A.",
volume="103",
number="3",
pages="160-166",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in reconfiguration of the NHS. Elective services were stopped and trauma services focused on decreasing patient-clinician interactions and managing injuries nonoperatively wherever possible. The everyday life of the general public changed dramatically with the introduction of a national lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This paper looks at the experience of a South West London trauma unit. <br><br>MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients reviewed in fracture clinic and by the orthopaedic on-call team between 23 March to 23 April 2020 were included. Data on the mechanism of injury and whether this was a usual activity, the injury sustained and its management were collected. <br><br>RESULTS: A total of 167 trauma injuries were seen, compared with 735 new patients with injuries in the previous month. The number of trauma operations completed decreased by 38%; 55% of injuries occurred inside the home and 44% outside the home during daily exercise. Some 31% of injuries were secondary to a new activity taken up during lockdown. Three open fractures and two polytrauma cases were seen that would have normally been managed at the local major trauma centre. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Overall, both the number of injuries seen and trauma operations completed during the enforced lockdown decreased. This is probably due to a change in the way the general public are living their lives, and the reconfigurations within the NHS in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is an interesting time within trauma and orthopaedic departments, as they continue to adapt to the changing injuries and working environment.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0035-8843",
doi="10.1308/rcsann.2020.7066",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1308/rcsann.2020.7066"
}