The Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions and Changes in Guidelines on Adult Wrist Fracture Management

Background  The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had an unprecedented impact on the healthcare service of the United Kingdom. This study aims to evaluate the effect on wrist fracture care as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in British Orthopaedic Association Standards of Trauma and Orthopaedics wrist fracture management guidelines, and introduction of lockdown restrictions. Methods  This is a retrospective observational study with data collected using the Pathpoint eTrauma platform (Open Medical, United Kingdom). All adults (18 years + ) admitted with wrist fractures within the study phases to Manchester University National Health Service Foundation Trust were included. Each phase of the study period represents a change in lockdown restrictions, including lockdown 1, period of eased restrictions after lockdown 1, lockdown 2, and lockdown 3. These phases were then compared with a prepandemic period. A total of 608 referrals were included for analysis. Results  The number of referrals per week decreased from 9.94 prepandemic to as low as 8.12 during lockdown 2. Falls remained the most common mechanism of injury, followed by cycling that saw an increase by more than threefold from 2.42% prepandemic to 8.17% ( p  = 0.500) during lockdown 1 and 8.77% ( p  = 0.0164) during the easing of lockdown 1. Sports-related injuries and occupational injuries decreased throughout. Assaults and altercations, road traffic accidents, roller-skate, and skateboard-related injuries increased throughout. Surgical procedures per week decreased from 5.06 prepandemic to as low as 4.55 during lockdown 1. Procedure cancellations remained steady apart from an increase during lockdown 2. Referrals managed operatively increased from 50.9% prepandemic to 58.9% in lockdown 2, before dropping to 49.2% in lockdown 3. Mean time from presentation to surgery increased from 9.08 days prepandemic to 16.27 days in lockdown 1 but decreased to just below the prepandemic baseline thereafter. Conclusion  Overall, there was a decrease in the number of wrist fracture referrals and surgical procedures compared with before the pandemic. There was also an increased wait-time to surgery and an increased rate of cancellations. Statistical analyses fail to find significance in changes other than mechanisms of injury, which resulted from lockdown restrictions. Therefore, service provision, delivery, and efficiency not affected significantly by changes in guidelines and lockdown restrictions.