International trauma care: initial European approaches during the COVID 19 pandemic

Tim J S Chesser; Robert Handley; Johannes Kloos; Gerrit De Wachter; Guy Putzeys; Jesús Gómez-Vallejo; Coral Sánchez-Pérez; Francisco Chana-Rodríguez; Filippo Raggini; Carlotta Pari; Stefania Paderni; Achille Contini; Alberto Belluati Md; Ioannis Daskalakis; Ioannis Sperelakis; Athanasios Kostakos; Theodoros H Tosounidis; Sascha Halvachizadeh Md; Hans-Christoph Pape Md; Bertil Bouillon; Berend-Jan de Bruin; Keesjan J Ponsen

doi:10.1097/OI9.0000000000000112

International trauma care: initial European approaches during the COVID 19 pandemic

OTA Int. 2021 Mar 15;4(1 Suppl):e112. doi: 10.1097/OI9.0000000000000112. eCollection 2021 Mar.

Authors

Tim J S Chesser¹, Robert Handley², Johannes Kloos³, Gerrit De Wachter³, Guy Putzeys⁴, Jesús Gómez-Vallejo⁵, Coral Sánchez-Pérez⁶, Francisco Chana-Rodríguez⁶, Filippo Raggini⁷, Carlotta Pari⁸, Stefania Paderni⁸, Achille Contini⁹, Alberto Belluati Md¹⁰, Ioannis Daskalakis¹¹, Ioannis Sperelakis¹², Athanasios Kostakos¹³, Theodoros H Tosounidis¹⁴, Sascha Halvachizadeh Md¹⁵, Hans-Christoph Pape Md¹⁶, Bertil Bouillon¹⁷, Berend-Jan de Bruin¹⁸, Keesjan J Ponsen¹⁹

Affiliations

¹ North Bristol NHS Trust, Southmead Hospital, Bristol.
² John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
³ Orthopaedic and Traumatology Surgeon, Jessa Hospital, Hasselt.
⁴ Orthopaedic and Traumatology Surgeon, Groeninge Hospital Kortrijk, Belgium.
⁵ Orthopaedic Department, General University Hospital Lozano Blesa, Zaragoza.
⁶ Orthopaedic Department, General University Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
⁷ Orthopaedic and Trauma Department, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan.
⁸ Orthopaedic and Trauma Department, Hospital Santa Maria delle Croci, Ravenna.
⁹ Orthopardic and Trauma Department, Ospedale del Mare, Naples.
¹⁰ Orthopaedic and Trauma Department, Hospital Santa Maria delle Croci, Ravenna, Italy.
¹¹ Orthopaedic Department.
¹² Orthopaedic Department, University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete.
¹³ 1st Orthopaedic Department, KAT Hospital, Athens.
¹⁴ School of Medicine, University of Crete, Crete, Greece.
¹⁵ Department of Trauma, University Hospital Zurich.
¹⁶ Harald-Tscherne Laboratory for Orthopedic and Trauma Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹⁷ Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Witten/Herdecke, Cologne Merheim Medical Center, Cologne, Germany.
¹⁸ Department of Surgery.
¹⁹ Department of Surgery, TraumaUnit, Noordwest ZH Groep, Alkmaar, the Netherlands.

Abstract

The world was not prepared for the global of pandemic in early 2020 with the arrival of COVID 19. Europe has some of the most developed health care systems in the world and this article explains the initial response to the pandemic from an orthopaedic and trauma viewpoint from 8 nations. Italy reported the first cluster in February, which then rapidly spread around the continent, requiring a rapid reorganization of services. The reports highlight how elective surgery was universally stopped, surgical services were reconfigured, and new practices, such as the widespread use of telemedicine, may well become permanent. It also emphasizes how the pandemic has re-educated us on the importance of a consistent and central approach to deal with a global health crisis, and how medical services need to remain flexible and responsive to new ways of working.

Keywords: COVID19; coronavirus; trauma.