Open AccessUniversal Testing for COVID-19 in Essential Orthopaedic Surgery Reveals a High Percentage of Asymptomatic Infections
Author(s) -
Jordan A. Gruskay,
Aleksey Dvorzhinskiy,
Maxwell A. Konnaris,
Drake G. LeBrun,
Gregory Ghahramani,
Ajay Premkumar,
Christopher J. DeFrancesco,
Christopher L. Mendias,
William M. Ricci
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of bone and joint surgery. american volume/the journal of bone and joint surgery. american volume
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.634
H-Index - 260
eISSN - 1058-2436
pISSN - 0021-9355
DOI - 10.2106/jbjs.20.01053
Subject(s) - asymptomatic , medicine , orthopedic surgery , covid-19 , pandemic , retrospective cohort study , surgery , emergency medicine , pediatrics , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The long incubation period and asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 present considerable challenges for health-care institutions. The identification of infected individuals is vital to prevent the spread of illness to staff and other patients as well as to identify those who may be at risk for disease-related complications. This is particularly relevant with the resumption of elective orthopaedic surgery around the world. We report the results of a universal testing protocol for COVID-19 in patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery during the coronavirus pandemic and to describe the postoperative course of asymptomatic patients who were positive for COVID-19.