• Leonardo Z Cordova, Nicholas Savage, Rachna Ram, Lisa Ellis, Vicky Tobin, Warren M Rozen, and Marc A Seifman.
• Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, Peninsula Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• ANZ J Surg. 2021 Mar 1; 91 (3): 415-419.

BackgroundIn Australia, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe social disruptions, including restrictions to the movement of people. Healthcare centres around the world have seen changes in the nature of injuries acquired during the COVID-19 pandemic; we therefore hypothesize that social isolation measures have changed the pattern of plastic and reconstructive surgery presentations.MethodsA prospective cohort study was designed comparing patient presentations during the enforced COVID-19 lockdown to two previous periods. All emergency referrals requiring operative intervention by the plastic and reconstructive surgery unit of our institution were included. Patient demographics, place and mechanism of injury, drug and alcohol involvement, delays to presentation, length of admission and complication rates were collected.ResultsDemographics and complication rates were similar across all groups. A 31.8% reduction in total number of emergency cases was seen during the lockdown period. Increase in do-it-yourself injuries (P = 0.001), bicycle injuries (P = 0.001) and injuries acquired via substance abuse (P = 0.041) was observed. Head and neck injuries, mostly due to animal bites and falls, were also more prevalent compared to the same period the previous year (P = 0.007). As expected, over 80% of plastic surgery operations during the COVID-19 period were due to injuries acquired at home, a significant increase compared to previous periods.ConclusionDespite changes in the pattern of presentations requiring plastic and reconstructive emergency surgery, traumatic injuries continued to occur during the pandemic. Thus, planning will be essential to ensure resource allocation for emergency procedures is sustained as second and third waves of COVID-19 cases emerge worldwide.© 2021 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

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