TY - JOUR
AR - AJSCR-2020-2-106
TI - COVID-19 Pandemic Morbidity and Mortality Caused to Non-COVID Spine Inpatients at a Level One Trauma Centre: Case Report
AU - Danielle , Shafiepour
AU - Humaid Al, Farii
AU - Michael , Weber
AU - Salim Al , Rawahi
JO - American Journal of Surgical Case Reports
PY - 2020
DA - Fri 22, May 2020
SN - 2674-5046
DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.31487/j.AJSCR.2020.02.06
UR - https://www.sciencerepository.org/covid-19-pandemic-morbidity-and-mortality-caused-to-non-covid-spine_AJSCR-2020-2-106 
KW - Coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19, spine surgery
AB - Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) is evolving, overwhelming the healthcare system and negatively impacting inpatients, requiring nonelective surgical intervention.
Case Presentation: We present two cases admitted under the Orthopaedic Spine Unit, a patient with an
acute T12/L1 disc herniation and new-onset progressive bilateral lower extremity weakness, whose surgery
was complicated by a cardiac arrest, secondary to a pulmonary embolism due to delayed access to the
operating theatre (OR) and a patient with an L3 burst fracture, who left the hospital after waiting for four
days for surgical management, being afraid of becoming infected with COVID-19.
Conclusion: Challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic are real, but solutions must be explored. Acting on
the proposed strategies listed in the report may be a good start towards improving the outcome and helping
to avoid unintentional complications.