Open AccessAsymptomatic Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Patients with Trauma: A Report of Three Cases in a General Hospital
Author(s) -
SM Javad Mortazavi,
Seyed Hadi Kalantar,
Nima Shahryarpour
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of orthopedics and spine trauma
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2538-4600
pISSN - 2538-2330
DOI - 10.18502/jost.v6i2.4786
Subject(s) - asymptomatic , medicine , orthopedic surgery , covid-19 , disease , asymptomatic carrier , surgery , orthopedic trauma , general surgery , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Background: Patients with asymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can transmit the disease to others. Since the trauma patients represent a portion of society and can be asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19, it is essential for medical staff to use precautions when managing all trauma patients with or without symptoms of COVID-19.
Case Report: In this article, we discuss three patients with bone fractures who had no previous symptoms of COVID-19. Two cases were old patients with intertrochanteric fractures, and the other one was a young man with a distal clavicular fracture. All patients were diagnosed incidentally in the course of the admission.
Conclusion: Emergency room (ER) personnel and orthopedic surgeons should be aware of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases. It is important to use standard personal protective equipment (PPE) during the evaluation of all patients with orthopedic trauma to prevent disease spread.