Bariatric Surgery Candidate, Patient Underwent Bariatric Surgery
Conditions
Brief summary
Bariatric patients represent a peculiar and frail subset of subjects, constantly increasing. During the novel coronavirus disease outbreak, for the lockdown of any non-urgent and non-oncological activity, the access to healthcare services was severely limited, according to the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders.
Detailed description
The constant and strict follow-up is mandatory in this special subset of patients. Therefore, starting from the telemedicine experience in different medical fields, in our bariatric surgery division we designed and started a dedicated project to follow-up obese patients using remote counselling.
Interventions
OTHERTelemedicine to remote outpatient visit in bariatric patient
Patients that referred for the first time to our bariatric center were investigated for anthropometric, psychological and instrumental data in order to evaluate the eligibility for a future bariatric procedure. In established patients, eligibility for tele-consultation was evaluated by three experienced physicians, consulting the stored patients' data. All included patients provided oral informed consent. Patients approached the virtual visit with their personal smart devices, desktop or laptop computer. Medical counselling was performed using a desktop or laptop computer from the Hospital or home in a smart working modality. The video call was carried out using Skype platform by Microsoft®; any document drawn up by the physician was saved as pdf using the Cute Professional™ PDF software, that allows to add passwords and set security options to protect the patients' data.
Sponsors
University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
RETROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Inclusion criteria
* obese adults (\> 18 years of age, BMI\> 40 or \> 35 with comorbidities) older than 18 years * patients undergoing bariatric surgery within 6 months * patients who required clinical and instrumental control * presence of a caregiver in case of subject with cognitive impairment; patients with a history of bariatric surgery who requested a first outpatients access or established patients who requested an outpatients' visit for an emerging problem.
Exclusion criteria
* virtual visit decline * the internet or smart devices unavailability * need for physical examination or radiological investigations established during a preliminary contact by phone.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Evaluation of feasibility of telemedicine in outpatient visit in bariatric patients | 2 months | Telemedicine to follow-up and identify sing or symptom of alarm in patient undergoing bariatric surgery or in established bariatric patients during COVID-19 outbreak |
Countries
Italy
Outcome results
None listed