Orthopädie und Muskulatur: Aktuelle Forschung
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Functional Outcome after Conservative Management by 'Bag of Bones' in Intra Articular Distal Humerus Fractures in Covid-19 Pandemic-A Case Series

Neetin P. Mahajan, Tushar C. Patil*, Sunny M. Sangma, Pritam Talukder

Introduction: With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ever-increasing caseload of novel coronavirus pneumonia worldwide cases, the management of various orthopedic cases was forced to be changed from operative to conservative. As a part of the lockdown effort in India, all elective surgeries were canceled and banned across the country. Only orthopedic trauma cases with urgent treatment were accepted in all hospitals. Case series: Here we present a case series of 3 patients aged 50 years and above with various comorbidities. These patients presented to us in difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, when only lifesaving emergency surgeries took place in most countries. We managed these patients with a conservative bag of bones technique and achieved a good functional range of motion, adequate for their daily activities. Conclusion: Distal humerus fractures are technically challenging and difficult fractures to manage to owe to their complex anatomy and surrounding soft tissue and neurovascular structures, especially in the elderly population with osteoporotic bone quality. Hence in a selected group of old debilitated and comorbid patients at times of COVID-19 pandemic, non-operative conservative management with a bag of bones therapy and early mobilization by physiotherapy yields better functional outcome compared to surgical intervention in this population.