Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Mar 18, 2021; 12(3): 94-101
Published online Mar 18, 2021. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v12.i3.94
COVID-19 and its effects upon orthopaedic surgery: The Trinidad and Tobago experience
Marlon Meredith Mencia, Raakesh Goalan
Marlon Meredith Mencia, Department of Clinical Surgical Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Joseph 0000, Trinidad and Tobago
Raakesh Goalan, Department of Surgery, Sangre Grande Hospital, Sangre Grande 0000, Trinidad and Tobago
Author contributions: Mencia MM conceptualized, drafted and revised the manuscript; Goalan R analyzed the data and revised the manuscript; both authors read and approved the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declares no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marlon Meredith Mencia, FRCS, Lecturer, Department of Clinical Surgical Sciences, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, St. Joseph 0000, Trinidad and Tobago. marlon.mencia@sta.uwi.edu
Received: November 23, 2020
Peer-review started: November 23, 2020
First decision: December 24, 2020
Revised: December 29, 2020
Accepted: January 28, 2021
Article in press: January 28, 2021
Published online: March 18, 2021
Processing time: 106 Days and 22.9 Hours
Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic on March 11, 2020. COVID-19 is not the first infectious disease to affect Trinidad and Tobago. The country has faced outbreaks of both Chikungunya and Zika virus in 2014 and 2016 respectively. The viral pandemic is predicted to have a significant impact upon all countries, but the healthcare services in a developing country are especially vulnerable. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago swiftly established a parallel healthcare system to isolate and treat suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19. Strick ‘lockdown’ orders, office closures, social distancing and face mask usage recommendation were implemented following advice from the WHO. This approach has seen Trinidad and Tobago emerge from the second wave of infections, with the most recent Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker report indicating a favourable risk of openness index for the country. The effects of the pandemic on the orthopaedic services in the public and private healthcare systems show significant differences. Constrained by shortages in personal protective equipment and inadequate testing facilities, the public system moved into emergency mode prioritizing the care of urgent and critical cases. Private healthcare driven more by economic considerations, quickly instituted widespread safety measures to ensure that the clinics remained open and elective surgery was not interrupted. Orthopaedic teaching at The University of the West Indies was quickly migrated to an online platform to facilitate both medical students and residents. The Caribbean Association of Orthopedic Surgeons through its frequent virtual meetings provided a forum for continuing education and social interaction amongst colleagues. The pandemic has disrupted our daily routines leading to unparalleled changes to our lives and livelihoods. Many of these changes will remain long after the pandemic is over, permanently transforming the practice of orthopaedics.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Orthopaedics; Trinidad and Tobago; University of the West Indies; The Caribbean association of orthopaedic surgeons

Core Tip: A government-led disciplined response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an essential component in the fight against this pandemic. Orthopedic surgeons have been at the forefront of the struggle, maintaining essential surgical services while ensuring the safety of the public. Developing countries with under-resourced healthcare facilities have fared far better than many developed countries. In this war against COVID-19 the resilience and innovative spirit of the people may be our most effective weapons.