In Q420 and into Q121, COVID-19 cases ramped up in the US, impacting US Knee replacement procedures. Several large implant manufacturers reported seeing hip procedures being prioritized over knee replacement cases given their more elective nature. However, revision knee replacements are not always able to be postponed. Craig Della Valle, MD of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush in Chicago discusses the effects of COVID-19 on revision knee procedures and the changes to care pathways precipitated by the pandemic.
To listen to the interview, recorded live via Zoom, click on the following video. A link to the transcript of the interview is also provided below.
Lisa Mahan here with SmartTRAK. Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Craig Della Valle. He is with Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush and is also a Professor of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Chief of Adult Reconstructive Surgery at Rush University Medical Center. Good morning, Dr. Della Valle.
Dr. Craig Della Valle: Good morning. How are you?
I'm good. How are you?
CDV: Great.
This morning I wanted to talk to you and get an understanding of how the COVID situation has affected revision knee surgery. There's been a lot in the press. There have even been studies done on how it's affected joint replacement overall, but I haven't seen anything specific to revision knee surgery, and we've heard a lot that hip surgeries have kind of been prioritized over knee because it's hard to put those off. But, I want to understand, when hospitals had to postpone elective procedures early in the pandemic, what was the effect on patients needing revision knee surgery? Did you have to reschedule patients during that time? And how did you make the determination of which revision knee patients could wait and which ones had to go to surgery?
To read Dr. Della Valle's answer to these and other questions, you can download a complete transcript of the entire interview by just clicking the button below.
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