Colorectal Surgery, Mobile Applications, Surgery--Complications, Surgical Site Infection
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of using a mobile application (app) called how2trak to improve people's experience, wound surveillance, and detection of surgical site infections (SSI) after colorectal surgery while reducing in-person interactions for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will inform the implementation of a full-scale trial to establish if surveillance of someone's incision and symptoms using how2trak improves SSI detection and management compared to standard care (involving a single post-operative surgery clinic visit). The data collected will contribute to a broader dataset of people with SSI surveillance to be used in developing a clinical decision support system.
Detailed description
Background: Surgical site infections (SSI) are the most common nosocomial infection and occur in 16.3% of individuals undergoing colorectal surgery at our institution, the majority of which are identified after discharge from hospital. Patients concerned to have an SSI, generally present to the emergency department or surgery clinic. Both options for in-person interaction are costly to the healthcare system and patients, and increase their risk of COVID-19 exposure. A mobile application How2trak has proven to be beneficial for patients with complex wounds at our institution by facilitating at-home monitoring and virtual consultations. Aim: This study aims to assess the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial to assess if How2trak can improve patients' experience, and detection of surgical site infections after colorectal surgery while reducing their risk of COVID-19 exposure. Methods: In this single-center, prospective feasibility trial, eligible patients undergoing elective and semi-urgent colorectal surgery will be randomized to either standard care or How2trak post-operative monitoring of their incision, symptoms, and ostomy function. Patient self-assessments will be monitored by a nurse specialized in wound and ostomy care who will meet virtually with the patient as needed. The primary outcome is feasibility as measured by enrollment, randomization, H2T usability, data extraction, and resource capacity. Results: We anticipate this work will help us to better understand the feasibility of using mobile technology to optimize patients' care after discharge from hospital after colorectal surgery. Virtual post-surgery wound and symptom monitoring could enhance patient experience, SSI detection, and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. If this technology is feasible for our patient population and workflow, next steps will be to assess its effectiveness with a full-scale randomized controlled trial and explore additional applications including ostomy monitoring, patient education, and application in other surgical departments.
Interventions
DEVICEHow2Trak mobile application
Patients will undergo virtual monitoring of their incision and symptoms using the How2Trak application(app). Using the app, patients will be asked to answer a series of questions and photograph their surgical incision on post-operative day 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, and 30. Patient responses and photographs entered into the app will be reviewed within 72 hours by a trained Nurse Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence. If a concern is identified the nurse will contact the patient to arrange a virtual visit using the how2trak app or notify the surgeon team (including colorectal surgeons and physician residents) in accordance with clinical discretion.
Sponsors
The Ottawa Hospital
Health Outcomes Worldwide
University of Ottawa
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Masking description
This study will be unblinded so no attempts at concealment of individuals' allocation will be made.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
16 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Patients must be 16 years of age or older who are being discharged from hospital after undergoing semi-urgent, urgent, or elective abdominal surgery by a colorectal surgeon at The Ottawa Hospital, and have provided informed consent to participate. Patients enrolled in other clinical trials will still be candidates for this feasibility trial. Clinicians using the how2trak app in this study will be considered study participants as well. They will be asked to complete the Patient and Clinician Survey of Application. This survey addresses the experience with the use of the H2T app their feedback regarding usability is fundamental for future improvement.
Exclusion criteria
* Individuals will be excluded if less than 16 years of age; have no access or ability to use a mobile device; no cellular data/WiFi access; and/or cannot read and write in English.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Resources and time required to conduct the feasibility trial will be assessed | 8 months | There is adequate administrative capacity, expertise, skills, space and time of the research team to complete the study. |
| How2trak compliance | 6 months | Proportion of self-assessments completed by patients, on average. |
| How2trak usability, delivery and compliance | 6 months | The mean score for the patient and clinician survey of H2T application. |
| Monitoring of protocol deviation and safety | 6 months | The number and frequency of events when study activities diverge from the REB-approved protocol or are considered adverse events. |
| Feasibility of data extraction | 6 months | Proportion of patients for which all primary outcomes of the definitive trial are recorded. This includes the SSI incidence and severity and patient experience. |
| Capability for enrollment | 6 months | number of patients per month on average are enrolled in the study |
| Feasibility of the randomization processes | 6 months | proportion of patients randomized to the intervention or control group. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Patient experience | 6 months | Response to patient experience survey |
| Healthcare System Time | 6 months | Hours of in-person interactions with the healthcare system, including readmissions to hospital, ED visits, clinic visits etc. |
| Covid-19 infection Rate | 6 months | Confirmed COVID-19 infection within 30 days after surgery. |
| Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Rate | 6 months | Secondary outcomes will include SSI incidence and severity. |
Contacts
Primary ContactReilly Musselman, MD, MSc
Backup ContactHeather Smith, MD,MSc
Outcome results
None listed