Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 11, 2025
High-Speed Human Temporal Bone Sectioning for the Assessment of COVID-19-Associated Middle Ear Pathology
Published on: May 18, 2022
Work characteristics of orthopaedic surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic: A single center analysis
Wenbin Hua1, Yukun Zhang1, Xinghuo Wu1
1Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered orthopaedic surgeons' work, with many redeployed to frontline duties. Surgical volumes dropped dramatically but rebounded in the post-pandemic period.
Area of Science:
- Orthopaedic Surgery
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread cancellations of elective orthopaedic surgeries.
- Many orthopaedic surgeons were redeployed to frontline COVID-19 care in China.
- This resulted in a sharp decrease in the number of performed orthopaedic surgeries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the changes in work characteristics of orthopaedic surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To assess the impact of the pandemic on surgical volumes and infection rates among orthopaedic surgeons.
Main Methods:
- Workplace assignments, SARS-CoV-2 infection rates, and surgical volumes were analyzed.
- Data was collected for the pandemic period (Jan 23-Apr 7, 2020), non-pandemic period (Jan 23-Apr 8, 2019), and post-pandemic period (Apr 8-Jun 22, 2020).
- Comparisons were made between these periods to identify changes.
Main Results:
- 65.56% of orthopaedic surgeons worked on the frontline against COVID-19.
- The daily number of orthopaedic surgeries decreased by 95.74% during the pandemic compared to the previous year.
- Post-pandemic surgical volumes increased significantly, reaching 13.10 times the pandemic period levels.
Conclusions:
- Orthopaedic surgeons experienced substantial changes in their work characteristics due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The pandemic necessitated a shift in surgical practice and surgeon deployment.
- Surgical activity demonstrated a strong recovery in the post-pandemic phase.
Background:
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in widespread cancellation of elective orthopaedic surgeries. During the pandemic period, many orthopaedic surgeons had been working at the front line to fight against COVID-19 in China, and the number of orthopaedic surgeries performed in our hospital decreased sharply.
Methods:
The work characteristics of orthopaedic surgeons was evaluated by the workplaces of orthopaedic surgeons, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection rate of orthopaedic surgeons and the number of orthopaedic surgeries performed. January 23-April 7 in 2020, January 23-April 8 in 2019, and April 8-June 22 in 2020 was defined as the pandemic period, non-pandemic period and post-pandemic period, respectively. The number and types of orthopaedic surgeons during the pandemic period, non-pandemic period, and post-pandemic period was compared and summarized.
Results:
During the pandemic period, 65.56% of the orthopaedic surgeons had been working at the front line to fight against COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 infection rate of the orthopaedic surgeons who worked at the front line in January and since February was 18.18% and 0.00%, respectively (P=0.003). The number of orthopaedic surgeries performed per day during the pandemic period decreased 95.74% compared with the same period in the past year (P<0.001). The number of orthopaedic surgeries performed during the post-pandemic period was 13.10 times that of the pandemic period (P<0.001), and 55.71% of the non-pandemic period (P<0.001).
Conclusions:
The work characteristics of orthopaedic surgeons greatly changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
