HYDERABAD: The sorry state of affairs at Osmania General Hospital (OGH) when it comes to surgeries is reflective of how the number of elective procedures performed has dramatically fallen in the hospital in the last one year. According to data accessed by Express, the number of elective surgeries in the Orthopaedics department alone fell from 200 per month (on an average) in 2019 to just 40 per month since the lockdown this year.
The fall in the number can be attributed to the closure of the old OGH building, which had sufficient operation theatres. Now, the smaller Quli Qutub Shah building, which has fewer operation theatres, is in use. In the process of shifting from one building to another, the number of tables for elective surgeries were reduced.
A similar situation persists in the General Surgery department. Since April, the department has had merely 30 to 40 elective surgeries per month, as compared to the 160 to 140 elective surgeries performed per month last year. “The impact of this is forcing us to manage patients with non-operative treatment procedures, such as putting them on special diets and medications. Several conditions, like hernia, end up escalating into an emergency in the phase of waiting, while a few others, like piles and fissures, are rescheduled indefinitely,” said a PG doctor.
Covid-19 could also be a reason for the fall in number of elective surgeries, say doctors. Their major concern, however, is the fact the normal surgery cases are now turning into emergency ones. “We are seeing an increase in emergency cases now, from 3 to 4 to nearly 10 each day,” added the doctor.