Digital Follow-Up After Elective Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Feasibility Study

Area of Science:

• Surgical outcomes
• Digital health
• Patient care

Background:

• Post-cholecystectomy care recommendations include helplines or telephone follow-up.
• Implementing telephone follow-up is resource-intensive.
• Digital modalities for follow-up are less studied than telephone follow-up.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the efficacy of digital follow-up (DFU) versus telephone follow-up (TFU).
• To assess DFU as an alternative to TFU for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients.

Main Methods:

• A feasibility study comparing DFU and TFU for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients.
• Patients were offered routine care (TFU or no follow-up) or DFU.
• Data collected on completion rates, missed appointments, complication identification, and readmissions.

Main Results:

• DFU completion rate was 86.7% compared to 62.8% for TFU.
• DFU had significantly fewer missed appointments (5.6% vs. 30.9%).
• DFU identified fewer wound infections (5.9% vs. 17.6%) but did not impact readmissions; complications were not missed by either method.

Conclusions:

• Digital follow-up is an acceptable and feasible alternative to telephone follow-up.
• DFU offers advantages in completion rates and timely complication detection.
• DFU can effectively manage post-operative care for cholecystectomy patients.