A non-interventional retrospective study was carried out between March 9 and May 4, 2020 at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology of a tertiary hospital, which was a part of the Spanish National Health System. The objective of the study was to assess the clinical data of a series of patients, who developed nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection during their stay in the hospital.

The criteria for nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection included negative screening or having no symptoms suggestive of Covid-19 infection at time of hospital admission and developing the infection during the hospital stay or during the first 2 weeks after discharge. All protective measures for Covid-19 were adopted and implemented. The study analysed 293 periods of hospitalization in 288 patients. Nineteen patients (6.48%) were found to have nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection in the study period. However, this number declined after preventive protocols were put in place. Mortality was higher in patients with nosocomial infection (36.8%) and those who were admitted with COVID-19 (50%). Age (p < 0.007) and duration of hospitalization (p < 0.001) were identified as the risk factors for nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection. The mean age of participants was 66 years. Most infections occurred during the month of March when the infection was highly prevalent. 

Careful selection of patients for elective surgeries and early discharge of patients with fractures could help in gradually resuming the surgical activity in this time of Covid-19 pandemic.