Vienna Institute for Research in Ocular Surgery (VIROS), a Karl Landsteiner Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Hanusch Hospital, Vienna, Austria.
PLoS One. 2024 Mar 7;19(3):e0298149. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298149. eCollection 2024.
Cataract surgery is a relatively safe procedure with satisfactory postoperative results in most patients. However, in rare cases severe complications can occur shortly after the intervention. Therefore, patients are advised to undergo an ophthalmological examination postoperatively, which should be performed as soon as possible in case of emergencies. However, exactly when these follow-up visits should take place is still discussed. A time- and cost-saving alternative to this could be short-term postoperative telemedical approaches. The aim of this study was to analyze patient complaints as well as satisfaction with and the best timepoint to perform telephone calls after cataract surgery.
Patients scheduled for cataract surgery received a telephone call on the surgery day or the day after (study group) during which they were asked about complaints or additional examination visits. Patients without telephone calls served as control group. All patients had a follow-up visit one week after the intervention during which a questionnaire was filled out and the study group was asked about their satisfaction with the telephone calls.
181 patients were recruited in this study. Ocular surface problems were the most common postoperative symptom. More than 80% of the patients were very satisfied with the telephone calls, with patients being contacted on the day of surgery being more calmed than those called on the next day. No difference in additional and planned follow-up visits was found between the study and the control group (P > .40). Postoperative patient complaints (Phi 0.372, P < .001) and additional prescribed therapy (Phi 0.480, P < .001) were moderately associated with additional visits.
Satisfaction with telephone reviews shortly after cataract surgery was very high and contacting patients on the evening of the day of the procedure could be a time- and cost-saving alternative to short-term in-house follow-up visits.
白内障手术在大多数患者中是一种相对安全的手术，术后效果令人满意。然而，在极少数情况下，手术后会立即出现严重并发症。因此，建议患者在术后进行眼科检查，如果出现紧急情况，应尽快进行检查。然而，何时进行这些随访检查仍存在争议。一种更省时、省钱的替代方法是短期术后远程医疗方法。本研究的目的是分析白内障手术后患者的投诉、对电话随访的满意度以及进行电话随访的最佳时间点。
计划接受白内障手术的患者在手术当天或第二天（研究组）会接到电话，询问他们的投诉或是否需要额外的检查。未接到电话的患者作为对照组。所有患者在术后一周进行随访，填写问卷，并询问研究组对电话随访的满意度。
本研究共纳入 181 例患者。眼部表面问题是最常见的术后症状。超过 80%的患者对电话随访非常满意，当天手术当天接到电话的患者比第二天接到电话的患者更镇静。研究组和对照组之间的额外和计划随访次数没有差异（P＞.40）。术后患者投诉（Phi 0.372，P＜.001）和额外规定的治疗（Phi 0.480，P＜.001）与额外就诊中度相关。
白内障手术后电话随访满意度非常高，在手术当天晚上联系患者可能是一种更省时、省钱的短期院内随访替代方法。
