Ahmedabad: Covid-19 strains ties between doctors and their stethoscopes!

AHMEDABAD: Doctors and stethoscopes are joined at the neck literally. Rarely would you see a doctor without one dangling from the neck, it’s earpiece quickly pulled into the ears to listen intently to the chest and heart sounds of the patient, and offer a clinical diagnosis of what ails the patient. Alas, corona pandemic might be breaking this centuries-old relationship between a physician and his medical device.
In Ahmedabad, one of the five worst Covid-19 affected cities in India, many doctors have bid adieu to their stethoscopes to make way for social distancing which mandates six feet distance between the patient and the healer. For some it was a logical thing to do as using a stethoscope needs doctor to get up-close with patient, some quit the hard way after falling prey to corona.
Doctors now maintaining six feet distance with patients
Dr Pranav Shah, general physician practicing in Vejalpur, says he ditched his beloved stethoscope only after he got critically ill with Covid. “Most of my doctor friends had stopped using stethoscope following six feet distance norm between patient and themselves but I continued as I thought I was protected wearing a PPE kit. But Covid-19 got me and got me bad,” says Dr Shah, who battled for life and death in ICU for days in May before he recovered.
“Now, I have ditched the stethoscope as I do not want to risk getting Covid again. I take detailed history of patients and if their cough or breathing issues do not improve in two-three days, I order a CT for better diagnosis and an X-ray chest if the patient is not affording,” says Dr Shah.
Cardiologist Dr Joyal Shah says corona pandemic has prompted him to ditch the stethoscope and rely more on diagnostic tests such as Echo-2D and chest CTs.
“We have trained to diagnose what's wrong with the heart using stethoscope. Most cardiologists get a high to clinically diagnose the patient by just listening to the heart and later only confirming it using advance diagnostics. But during corona epidemic, we have severely limited it's use only in immobile or very ill patients in the ward,” says the cardiologist. He adds that hopes his break-up with stethoscope is temporary as he would like to use it extensively again when Corona is controlled.
General physician Dr Dhiren Parikh says that use of same stethoscope is not possible on all patients during Corona. "Mostly we do not use it. When we do, there is a ritual of sanitizing it thoroughly,” says Dr Parikh.
In fact, such is the wariness that not using stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors on patients was a precondition laid down by Jamalpur Doctor's Association in May when the Ahmedabad Muncipal Corporation officials egged them to open their clinics for treating patients in the red zone for Covid.
“After a month, some doctors have picked up the stethoscopes as it is the cheapest tool for diagnosis as compared to CT, X-rays and Echo-2Ds but many are still wary," said Dr Mubassir Saiyed. Dr Pragnesh Vachharajani, secretary of Ahmedabad Family Physicians Association (AFPA), says stethoscope is an integral part of diagnostics and not easily replaceable. “To reduce chances of infection spread, several members have installed plastic curtains which are used as abarrier between the patient and doctor's stethoscope to examine heart and lungs function,” he said. Dr JP Modi, superintendent of Civil Hospital, said stethoscopes are not allowed to be taken outside specific area and are disinfected regularly to ensure that they don't turn carriers of virus.