The ımpact of covıd-19 pandemic restrictions on musculoskeletal pathology services ayşe nur toksöz yıldırım 1, tulay zenginkinet 2, erhan okay 3, aykut celik 3, zeynep cagla tarcan 3, muhammed fevzi esen 4, tolga onay 5, yalçın turhan 6, korhan özkan 7, m

Background and objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on healthcare in musculoskeletal pathology. There is no standard protocol for pathology services during a pandemic. The study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the workload of the musculoskeletal pathology service and the hurdles faced in collaboration with the orthopedic oncology unit in a tertiary reference center in a developing country. Materials and methods: The pathology reports from mid-March to mid-June 2019, 2020, and 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Significant differences were found between the pandemic period (2020) and the non-pandemic periods (2019-2021) in benign bone and soft tissue lesions, resection surgeries, and soft tissue tumors, which were more prevalent in the non-pandemic periods. However, there was no significant decrease in biopsy procedures. Conclusion: During the pandemic period, the biopsy procedure appears to be feasible for bone and soft tissue lesions without the need for anesthesia. Keywords: benign bone tumors; bone and soft tissue lesions; covid pandemics; muskuloskeletal tumors; soft tissue lesions; trucut biopsy