Minion D J, Sprang R, Endean E D
Section of Vascular Surgery, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
Minerva Chir. 2002 Apr;57(2):237-44.
Telemedicine refers to the delivery of medical care through telecommunications and has been utilized by many medical specialists. In its basic form, telemedicine can involve the use of a telephone or fax. More advanced forms are the transmission of still images, often referred to as "store-and-forward" technology, or real-time two-way interactive video. The former is possible over existing phone lines or the Internet and has enjoyed success in visually oriented disciplines such as radiology and dermatology. The latter requires high bandwidth communication lines and is therefore considerably more expensive. This article reviews the use of telemedicine as applied specifically to vascular surgery. Initial studies indicate that store-and-forward technology can be used to adequately assess and treat wounds in vascular patients. A recent study reported the use of two-way interactive video for remote assessment of a wide variety of vascular patients. Diagnosis and treatment recommendations by the remote physician were found to be comparable to conventional on-site examinations. Patient satisfaction with the telemedicine examination was noted to be extremely high. In conclusion, telemedicine, although not commonly used in vascular surgery, has the potential of increasing patient access to specialty care, while decreasing patient or physician travel. The use of telemedicine in vascular surgery will likely continue to expand as technology improves and costs decrease.
远程医疗是指通过电信手段提供医疗服务，许多医学专家都在使用这项技术。其基本形式可以包括使用电话或传真。更先进的形式是传输静态图像，通常称为“存储转发”技术，或实时双向交互式视频。前者可以通过现有的电话线或互联网实现，并且在放射学和皮肤病学等以视觉为主的学科中取得了成功。后者需要高带宽通信线路，因此成本要高得多。本文回顾了远程医疗在血管外科中的具体应用。初步研究表明，存储转发技术可用于充分评估和治疗血管疾病患者的伤口。最近一项研究报告了使用双向交互式视频对各种血管疾病患者进行远程评估。结果发现，远程医生的诊断和治疗建议与传统的现场检查相当。患者对远程医疗检查的满意度非常高。总之，远程医疗虽然在血管外科中并不常用，但有潜力增加患者获得专科护理的机会，同时减少患者或医生的出行。随着技术的改进和成本的降低，远程医疗在血管外科中的应用可能会继续扩大。
