Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.
Pol Przegl Chir. 2021 May 7;94(1):70-74. doi: 10.5604/01.3001.0014.8730.
This study was undertaken with an aim to assess the feasibility of substitution of real-life clinical follow up with a review of smartphone captured digital photographs of post-surgical wounds by a clinician to assess wound healing.
The postoperative patients who understood the objectives got enrolled in the prospective study and were followed up. They were requested to capture the digital photographs of the wounds with the smartphones and send through WhatsApp on postoperative days 3, 5, 7, 15 and 30 or else whenever they felt need for review due to symptoms like fever, pain, redness or swelling.
24 abdominal, 2 extremity and 1 neck wounds were followed up in 27 patients. 3 patients developed complications and all were detected with 100% accuracy. 81% of the patients were satisfied with this mode of postoperative wound assessment.
The experience shows that, in the follow up of postsurgical wounds, there is good correlation between real life clinical and remote photographic review. Incorporating photographic wound assessment into a postoperative follow-up care pathway may potentially decrease the postoperative hospital visits and decrease burden on healthcare facilities.
本研究旨在评估通过临床医生查看智能手机拍摄的术后伤口数字照片来替代实际临床随访以评估伤口愈合的可行性。
理解研究目的的术后患者被纳入前瞻性研究并进行随访。他们被要求使用智能手机拍摄伤口的数字照片，并在术后第 3、5、7、15 和 30 天或因发热、疼痛、红肿或肿胀等症状需要复查时通过 WhatsApp 发送照片。
27 名患者中有 24 例腹部、2 例四肢和 1 例颈部伤口得到了随访。3 名患者出现并发症，均 100%准确地被发现。81%的患者对这种术后伤口评估模式感到满意。
经验表明，在术后伤口的随访中，实际临床和远程照片复查之间具有良好的相关性。将摄影伤口评估纳入术后随访护理路径中，可能会减少术后的医院就诊次数，并减轻医疗设施的负担。
