A Des Plaines orthopedic surgeon indicated a secondary health care crisis may emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic if other medical ailments are not treated or postponed.
“The potential secondary health crisis is the crisis of every other medical ailment that is being ignored, postponed or left untreated while we focus on coronavirus,” said Dr. Benjamin Domb, founder and medical director of the American Hip Institute & Orthopedic Specialists in Des Plaines,
Domb penned an op-ed piece in the Daily Herald about this possible secondary crisis and explained it further to Prairie State Wire.
“Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, the definition of which procedures are ‘elective’ has been murky. Hundreds of thousands of patients have had their procedures canceled or postponed, even when the patients themselves felt that their procedure was anything but 'elective,'” said Domb in an email to Prairie State Wire.
He said states are now, thankfully, starting to lift bans on elective procedures.
“For example, my home state of Illinois will allow certain elective surgeries for non-life-threatening conditions starting May 1. Now that elective procedures are resuming, medical professionals must take swift action to treat patients who will be harmed by any more delay of care for their ailments,” said Domb.
Domb said every precaution must to be taken to minimize the transmission of coronavirus.
“There is a balancing act that comes into play: 1) stopping the current crisis by following CDC and government guidelines and 2) avoiding a second crisis by caring for undertreated patients,” said Domb in his email. “It is incumbent upon us physicians to make ourselves available to provide care, while diligently educating our patients about the potential risks of procedures during the coronavirus pandemic.”
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, medical treatments unrelated to the virus were placed on the backburner, he said, including everything from mammograms to routine blood tests to elective procedures.
“The consequences of these untreated problems may render patients vulnerable to losing employment due to disability, opioid dependence, succumbing to depression, becoming immobilized or, worse, dying because of an issue like a blood clot,” Domb pointed out.
Since the March order to put procedures on hold, The American Hip Institute was able to “safely postpone” at least 80 percent of planned procedures with patients’ input.
“For the remaining surgeries, however, my team and I proceeded for patients whose procedures simply could not be postponed, putting ourselves and our families at risk of contracting COVID-19,” said Domb. “We did this because we took an oath to protect others. The American Hip Institute was very early to adopt preventative measures, including social distancing, routine cleaning and sterilization of all workspaces and patient areas, use of masks and gloves and minimization of direct contact. These measures have helped protect both our patients and our employees.”
Domb sees safety measures as a result of the coronavirus possibly becoming the norm at health care facilities — an obviously positive change.
“Hospital borne infections have always been a problem, ever since there were hospitals. Coronavirus has brought tremendous attention to this issue, but it is not a new issue. Even after the coronavirus crisis ends, minimization of transmission of infections in hospitals and health care facilities should always be a goal,” Domb said.
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