Orthopedic Telemedicine Outpatient Practice Diagnoses Set during the First COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown-Individual Observation

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 29;19(9):5418. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095418.ABSTRACTThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused a substantial intensification of the telemedicine transformation process in orthopedics since 2020. In the light of the legal regulations introduced in Poland, from the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, physicians, including orthopedic surgeons, have had the opportunity to conduct specialist teleconsultations. Teleconsultations increase epidemiological safety and significantly reduce the exposure of patients and medical staff to direct transmission of the viral vector and the spread of infections. The study aimed to describe diagnoses and clinical aspects of consecutive orthopedic teleconsultations (TC) during the pandemic lockdown. The diagnoses were set according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Hybrid teleconsultations used smartphones and obligatory Electronic Health Record (EHR) with supplemental voice, SMS, MMS, Medical images, documents, and video conferencing if necessary. One hundred ninety-eight consecutive orthopedic teleconsultations were served for 615 women and 683 men (mean age 41.82 years ± 11.47 years). The most frequently diagnosed diseases were non-acute orthopedic disorders "M" (65.3%) and injuries "S" (26.3%). Back pain (M54) was the most frequent diagnosis (25.5%). Although virtual orthopedic consultation cannot replace an entire personal visit to a specialist orthopedic surgeon, in many cases, teleco...
Source: Pain Physician - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Source Type: research