Effect of Smartphone App Postoperative Home Monitoring After Oncologic Surgery on Quality of Recovery: A Randomized Clinical Trial

There has been an increase in health care-focused smartphone apps, including those for encouraging healthy behaviours and managing chronic conditions, but app-assisted postsurgical care has yet to be fully explored.

The authors attempted to compare the quality of recovery and patient satisfaction between conventional in-person follow-up and smartphone app-assisted follow-up for patients following ERAS protocols. In this RCT the authors randomised to either to smart phone follow up or conventional.  The smartphone app was able to record Quality of Recovery 15 (QoR15) scores, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer-selected adverse events, drain outputs, and surgical site photographs over 6 weeks, whilst being continually monitored remotely by a surgeon.

The app group had significantly better QoR15 scores at both 2 and 6 weeks, and both equally satisfied. Complication rates were also similar. The surgeons involved also appreciated the early identification of complications using the app.

Congratulations to Claire Temple-Oberle  (first author and the ERAS Breast speciality lead) and Gregg Nelson (senior author and treasurer of the ERAS Executive committee).

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