India should remain vigilant, second wave of Covid-19 is likely: Renowned Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Sanjeev Gokhale
In an interview with Ten News, renowned orthopedic and expert knee replacement surgeon Dr. Sanjeev Gokhale said that India is likely to see a second wave of COVID-19 much like Germany and Sweden due to the relaxation in lockdown.
“Second wave was also witnessed in the case of Spanish flu in year 1919 and the flu in 2003. So, India must remain vigilant and carefully withdraw restrictive measures.”
In the interview, Dr. Gokhale who runs Gokhale hospital in Pune talked about conducting orthopedic surgeries in the times of Covid-19, preventive measures for orthopedic surgeons and gave tips for budding surgeons.
On elective surgeries, he said, the non-urgent elective surgeries should began only when the cases and deaths are declining each day and there is a clear directive from the state / central govt to restart open elective surgeries in operation theaters.
He said, in the times of Covid-19, the patients should be screened before elective surgery by obtaining information about their travel history, occupation and the area or city they are living in.
The patients should also be physically examined with X-ray test, checking temperature, pulses etc.
However, diabetes, hypertension, cardiac problem, immunocompromised patients cannot undergo elective orthopedic surgery.
On the precautions for healthcare workers, Dr. Gokhale said that they need to check their temperature twice every day, they should be tested for Covid-19 every alternate day and PPEs and water impermeable gown should be used by the healthcare staff in the Operation Theater.
If the surgery takes more than 2-3 hours, then the orthopedic surgeon and staff is advised to use powered air purification respirator.
In postoperative phase, all the patients should be in different rooms and families must not be allowed to meet them for 2 days as per the guidelines.
Sharing tips for young bidding surgeons, Dr. Gokhale said that the young orthopedic surgeons are eager to get back to work but they should wait for atleast a month before starting elective surgeries.
On management of stress during Covid times, Dr. Gokhale said that the orthopedic surgeons should make sure to take care of their own health while serving their families and the society.
We are grateful to Prof. (Dr.) Siddharth Gupta for conducting this interview.
Prof. (Dr.) Siddharth Gupta is a consulting editor at Ten News and senior advisor at Anti Corona Task Force.
