During the lockdown and unlock period, the surgeons of the Department of Orthopaedics of Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) and hospital successfully treated 546 orthopaedic patients, including 25 who had tested positive for COVID-19.
Addressing presspersons prior to a World Trauma Day programme at KIMS here on Saturday, institute director Ramalingappa Antarathani and head of the Department of Orthopaedics Suryakant K. said that all precautions were taken while operating on the COVID-19 patients who required surgery for fractures and other orthopaedic problems. They have recovered now and have also been cured of COVID-19, the doctors said.
Dr. Ramalingappa said that during the pandemic, the number of patients visiting the hospital for orthopaedic problems went down by 50%. While the lack of public transport was one reason, the other was that accidents had automatically come down because of the ban on vehicular movement, he said.
However, lack of transport facilities also delayed the visit of several patients to the hospital, resulting in further complications in some cases. “Our team of doctors and paramedical staff from the Department of Orthopaedics has successfully handled the situation and operated on those in need,” he said.
Dr. Suryakant also said that many of the patients who were operated on for orthopaedic problems had recovered completely, and some came back for consultation and further medical advice. “From March to August this year, a total of 546 patients underwent surgery. Several of these patients underwent complicated surgeries,” he said.
He said that despite the COVID-19 fear, innovative procedures were used with ample precautions while treating the 25 COVID-19 patients with orthopaedic issues.
