Quality of Preanesthesia Teleconsultation: The TELECAM Randomized Controlled Trial.

Area of Science:

• Anesthesiology
• Health Services Research
• Digital Health

Background:

• Preanesthesia evaluation is crucial for surgical safety and resource management.
• Telemedicine offers potential to overcome geographical and logistical barriers in healthcare delivery.
• Assessing the quality and patient experience of remote preanesthesia consultations is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the quality of preanesthesia teleconsultation compared to in-person visits.
• To assess the feasibility, patient satisfaction, and preoperative anxiety associated with teleconsultation.
• To determine anesthesiologist satisfaction with performing remote preanesthesia evaluations.

Main Methods:

• Investigator-initiated, prospective, single-center, randomized controlled trial (TELECAM).
• Patients undergoing ambulatory orthopedic or hand surgery randomized to in-person or teleconsultation.
• Quality assessed by agreement on intubation difficulty, mask ventilation, and ASA scores.

Main Results:

• High feasibility of teleconsultation (87.5%).
• No significant difference in evaluating intubation difficulty, mask ventilation, or ASA scores between groups.
• Higher preoperative satisfaction for patients in the teleconsultation group (p=0.04).
• No difference in preoperative anxiety; high anesthesiologist satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Preanesthesia teleconsultation is a high-quality, feasible alternative to in-person visits.
• Teleconsultation enhances patient satisfaction without compromising clinical assessment or increasing anxiety.
• Remote preanesthesia evaluations are well-received by both patients and anesthesiologists.