AB084. SOH22ABS152. The re-organisation of ambulatory trauma in an Irish Regional Hospital during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era
Orthopaedic Session I

AB084. SOH22ABS152. The re-organisation of ambulatory trauma in an Irish Regional Hospital during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era

Radha Senaratne, Mark Curtin, Aine Stakelum, Ben Murphy, Finbarr Condon

Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, University Hospital Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has forced healthcare systems globally to modify the way in which we operate. Trauma caseloads provide a constant workload to orthopaedic services which prompted a restructuring of our local model of care. Ambulatory trauma was redirected to a designated COVID-19 free orthopaedic hospital in an effort to decompress our tertiary centre. This study served to assess the impact of treating ambulatory trauma in a dedicated Covid-free hospital and to assess the efficiency of dedicated ambulatory trauma operating lists in addressing this caseload.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of hospital administration systems and theatre logbooks was performed covering a 16-month period from May 2020 to September 2021. All trauma cases performed were included and length of patient was recorded.

Results: A total of 357 patients underwent surgery for trauma related injuries during the study period. Fifty-nine percent of cases were performed on a dedicated trauma operating list, the remainder were added to an elective operating list. Sixty-seven percent (n=237) were performed as day cases. Mean length of stay was 2.1 days (range, 1–26 days).

Conclusions: The re-organisation of our trauma service due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had a positive impact on patient safety and improves the efficiency of our service. Re-structuring ambulatory trauma care translated into reduced hospital stay, significant improvements in acute bed availability and cost reduction. Permanently adapting these changes to our service will streamline the care we deliver.

Keywords: Ambulatory; coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); orthopaedics; surgery; trauma

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-22-ab084
Cite this abstract as: Senaratne R, Curtin M, Stakelum A, Murphy B, Condon F. AB084. SOH22ABS152. The re-organisation of ambulatory trauma in an Irish Regional Hospital during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era. Mesentery Peritoneum 2022;6:AB084.

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