Remote patient monitoring after surgery through smartphone tools and "selfies" can be effective for patients recovering at home, a Jan. 10 study published in Canadian Medical Association Journal shows.
Researchers were able to help diagnose surgical site infections one week after a surgical procedure compared with a 30-day follow-up appointment by combining smartphones and submitted photos of incisions.
The study looked at 492 patients who underwent abdominal surgery between July 2016 and March 2020.
Researchers required half the patients to use their smartphone to complete questionnaires about their wounds and asked patients who were experiencing infections to send photos to their surgical team.
They found that patients using their smartphones were 3.7 times more likely to get an infection diagnosed within a week after their operation and were less likely to visit a physician the month following their procedure.