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Review
. 2018 Oct;26(3):201-206.
doi: 10.5455/aim.2018.26.201-206.

The Use of Telemedicine in Surgical Care: a Systematic Review

Abdulmajid Asiri  1 , Sara AlBishi  1 , Wedad AlMadani  2 , Ashraf ElMetwally  3 , Mowafa Househ  3
Affiliations
Review

The Use of Telemedicine in Surgical Care: a Systematic Review

Abdulmajid Asiri et al. Acta Inform Med. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

Introduction: Telemedicine describes a healthcare service where physicians communicate with patients remotely using telecommunication technologies. Telemedicine is being used to provide pre-/postoperative surgical consultation and monitoring as well as surgical education.

Aim: Our purpose was to investigate the broad range of telemedicine technologies used in surgical care.

Material and methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Science Direct were searched for available literature from inception to March 30, 2018 with no language restrictions. The search terms included: cell phones, telemedicine, telecommunications, video, online, videoconferencing, remote consultation, surgery, preoperative, perioperative, postoperative, and surgical procedures. Studies were included if they used telemedicine in surgery for pre-, peri-, or post-surgery periods, and if they compared traditional surgical care with surgical telemedicine. We excluded case series, case reports, and conference abstracts from our review.

Results: A total of 24 studies were included in our review. The study found that the use of telemedicine in preoperative assessment and diagnosis, evaluation after surgery and follow-up visits to be beneficial. Patients reported benefits to using telemedicine such as avoiding unnecessary trips to hospitals, saving time and reducing the number of working days missed.

Conclusion: Telemedicine in surgical care can provide benefits to both patients and.

Keywords: Telemedicine; monitoring; satisfaction; surgical procedure.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. PRISMA flow diagram
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