Nonoperative Strategies to Manage Pain in Osteoarthritis during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) has resulted in restriction of face-to-face consultations and mechanisms to access health care. Oesteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common forms of musculoskeletal disease encountered and a leading cause of painful disability in adults and elderly. The assessment of the challenges and strategies encountered in the nonoperative management of OA of knee care during the COVID-19 pandemic was done. A comprehensive review of the literature using suitable keywords such as ‘COVID-19’, ‘OA’, ‘OA knee’, ‘knee joint’ on the search engines of PubMed, SCOPUS, Google Scholar and Research Gate in May 2020 on developments and guidance during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The management of OA has been hampered by COVID-19 pandemic lock down with subsequent suspension of elective surgeries. Nonoperative complementary therapy has been evaluated with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommendations to guide management. Conservative strategies including judicial use of analgesia as recommended by NICE, supportive orthosis, patient education and advice using remote telecommunication consultations play an important role in the nonoperative management of OA till elective surgery can safely resume.

Keywords

• conservative treatment
• coronavirus
• diabetes
• knee joint