Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Feb 18, 2022; 13(2): 193-200
Published online Feb 18, 2022. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v13.i2.193
COVID-19 pandemic: An update on the reaction attitude of the spine societies and their members worldwide
Alessandro Ramieri, Omar Alshafeei, Sokol Trungu, Antonino Raco, Giuseppe Costanzo, Massimo Miscusi
Alessandro Ramieri, Omar Alshafeei, Giuseppe Costanzo, SAIMLAL, Sapienza University, Rome 00100, Italy
Sokol Trungu, Antonino Raco, Massimo Miscusi, NESMOS, Sapienza University, Rome 00100, Italy
Author contributions: Ramieri A and Miscusi M designed the research; Alshafeei O and Trungu S performed the research; Ramieri A and Alshafeei O analyzed the data; Alshafeei O and Ramieri A wrote the paper; Costanzo G and Raco A supervised the paper; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Alessandro Ramieri, Omar Alshafeei, Massimo Miscusi, Trungu Sokol, Antonino Raco, and Giuseppe Costanzo have nothing to disclose.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Alessandro Ramieri, MD, PhD, Professor, Research Fellow, Surgeon, SAIMLAL, Sapienza University, Aldo Moro 5, Rome 00100, Italy. alexramieri@libero.it
Received: March 18, 2021
Peer-review started: March 18, 2021
First decision: July 18, 2021
Revised: August 1, 2021
Accepted: January 17, 2022
Article in press: January 17, 2022
Published online: February 18, 2022
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

During the second phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, some authors have felt the need to summarize and order data on the recommendations issued by the major surgical scientific societies in the world. The concluding observations of this review highlighted how these surgical scientific communities had promptly reacted to the emergency by issuing documents and guidelines. In particular, the neurosurgical scientific community has promptly developed recommendations for managing patients with cranial or spinal pathologies.

Research motivation

We designed a review of the literature concerning the release of documents, guidelines, or recommendations by the spine societies in the world, intending to offer an overview on these topics to which spine surgeons worldwide can easily refer.

Research objectives

This study aimed to discuss the recommendations by many spine societies for the management of spinal diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research methods

A review of the MEDLINE database according to the PRISMA guidelines.

Research results

We identified 28 associations present on the Internet as companies or networks that deal with the interventional treatment of spinal pathologies. We distinguished societies, associations, or networks worldwide into three groups. The literature search yielded a sum of 28 articles that were relevant to spine surgery and COVID-19.

Research conclusions

Only one-third of continental spine societies have issued recommendations. The international specialist companies have dealt little or nothing with the topic, except the SIS and partly AO spine. Paradoxically, the national companies were more stimulated to issue their guidelines. The local epidemiological severity has likely influenced the reactive corporate attitude.

Research perspectives

Articles and online video conferences presented real-life scenarios that proved the gravity of the situation. The discussed guidelines and seminars showed their efficacy to control the spread of COVID-19 and the efficiency of the healthcare system. The discussing points by the spine worldwide societies may not solve all issues related to spinal case management in the COVID era, but at least they have set forward a relevant ground to raise possible questions for the future’s sake, as well as the possibilities of reflecting upon these ideas on other similar areas of medicine.