Postoperative outcomes among patients evaluated via telemedicine-based preoperative consultations for inguinal hernia care.

Purpose: In an era where telehealth is gaining traction within healthcare systems, its integration into preoperative assessment protocols presents both challenges and opportunities. Preoperative assessments have an important role in determining the best plan of action for each patient. Recent studies have reported adequate operative outcomes after telemedicine preoperative consultations.

Assessing Patient-Reported Experiences for In-Person and Telemedicine-Based Preoperative Evaluations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed health care delivery through the rise of telehealth solutions. Though telemedicine-based care has been identified as safe and feasible in postoperative care, data on initial surgical consultations in the preoperative setting are lacking. We sought to compare patient characteristics, anticipated downstream care utilization, and patient-reported experiences (PREs) for in-person versus telemedicine-based care conducted for initial consultation encounters at a hernia and abdominal wall center.

Patient-performed at-home surgical drain removal is safe and feasible following hernia repair and abdominal wall reconstruction.

Background: Traditionally, surgical drains are considered a relative contraindication to telemedicine-based postoperative care. We sought to assess the safety, feasibility, and outcomes of an at-home patient-performed surgical drain removal pilot program.

Methods: A prospective cohort study among patients who were discharged with surgical drains was performed.