Detrimental Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Elective Orthopedic Surgery and Institutional Bone Bank Activity

Abstract The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) generated a 2020 global pandemic that has provoked drastic effects across world economies and healthcare systems. This article aimed to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on elective arthroplasty procedures and bone bank activity in the university hospital. We have performed a retrospective cohort study involving 600 adult orthopedic inpatients from March 15th to December 31st, 2019 and 2020, respectively. The number of primary total hip and knee arthroplasty procedures showed a highly significant decrease from 315 and 165 in the same period of 2019 to 106 and 14 in 2020 (p < 0.001). There was a highly significant decrease in the overall number of procurement procedures during the pandemic compared to the same period in 2019 (p < 0.001). The overall discard rate of bone allografts during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased from 31.57%. to 80.76% (p < 0.03). The leading cause of allograft rejection during 2019 and 2020 was the inability to perform serological tests due to lack of institutional support or the refusal of donors to perform a six-month retest. The COVID-19 pandemic had an extremely detrimental effect on elective orthopedic surgery and the normal functioning of the institutional bone bank.