Mobile applications in gastrointestinal surgery: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Gastrointestinal Surgery
• Medical Informatics
• Digital Health

Background:

• Mobile applications offer potential benefits for patients and healthcare providers in gastrointestinal surgical care.
• The current landscape and utilization of these applications in gastrointestinal surgery are not well-documented in existing literature.

Approach:

• A systematic review of PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases was conducted up to October 2022.
• Eligible studies assessed mobile applications for healthcare purposes within gastrointestinal surgery settings.
• Methodological quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias (RoB-2) and ROBINS-I tools.

Key Points:

• Twenty-nine applications across seven categories (monitoring, weight loss, postoperative recovery, education, communication, prognosis, clinical decision-making) were identified in 38 articles.
• Most applications, particularly for colorectal surgery, focused on monitoring and lacked robust clinical benefit evaluation.
• Limited high-quality evidence exists, with few studies demonstrating significant positive outcomes in postoperative recovery, complications, or weight loss.

Conclusions:

• Interest in mobile applications for gastrointestinal surgery is growing, yet most studies lack adequate clinical evaluation.
• Evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of these applications as medical devices is insufficient.
• Further clinical evaluation of objective outcomes is crucial to determine the efficacy, quality, and safety of gastrointestinal surgical applications.