Evaluation of a Telemedicine System for Patients Carried for Bariatric Surgery

Overview

This study is intended to study the feasibility of a telemedicine system to monitor and control certain vital parameters before and after surgery for obesity. During the preoperative preparation phase, weight, exercise, blood pressure and heart rate are recorded and transmitted to the patient's surgeon. In the immediate post operative period, the heart rate is a sensitive and reliable indicator of the occurrence of a complication. A telemetry system will allow rapid home return, continuous monitoring and early warning in the event of a problem. Prolonged follow-up identical to that started preoperatively should allow improvement and better control of weight loss by monitoring especially physical exercise.

The evolution of the health system requires a rationalization of the supply of care and the care of patients. It has allowed the evolution and generalization of ambulatory surgery for certain pathologies. For other pathologies, a hospital stay is still desirable with a tendency to decrease the length of stay. Thanks to the telemedicine platforms, specialized medical monitoring can be extended pre- and post-operatively to ensure good patient preparation and quality secure follow-up. Early return to home is an essential parameter in optimizing the distribution of hospital resources. Several studies have shown improved clinical outcomes, fewer complications, more beds available, and lower hospital costs. The development of outpatient surgery has enabled the establishment of systems allowing a return home in secure conditions. Early return home is also a wish of the patient. He becomes an actor of his own health. Obesity surgery is an exemplary specialty for the care of patients. The ideal course of care is perfectly codified both preoperatively and postoperatively. Nevertheless, this ideal care path is not always respected especially in structures too small to offer a real integrated multidisciplinary follow-up. Pre- and postoperative management solutions on the Internet exist but require a voluntary and active adherence of the patient. They allow a stronger involvement of the patient in his approach, they are nascent and integrate no connected solution for automated monitoring of the patient. Telemedicine can now allow continuous monitoring without the need for face-to-face interaction. The automatic collection of the physical activity and the heart rate makes it possible to guarantee the involvement of the patient in his preparation. After the intervention, the monitoring of the occurrence of complications can be delegated to connected objects with alert transmission according to parameters defined in advance. In particular, the heart rate is a sensitive indicator and will be followed by two sensors (activity bracelet and pulse oximeter). These complications occur mainly in the 15 days following the intervention, they are rare in immediate postoperative. The hospital stay is no longer necessary for a simple surveillance. In case of receipt of an alert, the surgeon contacts the patient to check his state of health. An adapted action is then engaged. The late postoperative follow-up throughout this document corresponds to the phase following the immediate postoperative phase. This late postoperative follow-up can be improved with the support of telemonitoring (activity, change in weight.) The addition of connected devices allows a stronger and faster interaction between the patient and his doctors, providing close monitoring and appropriate support. The study focuses on assessing the reliability of a remote monitoring system. The implementation of this remote monitoring system is subordinated to the reliability of the data transmissions between the connected objects and the remote site which receives the data, interprets them and generates the alerts. The motivation of the patient is appreciated by the acceptance of connected objects. During this study, the remote monitoring system is offered in addition to the usual care. The usual care does not change and is not impaired. This study concerns only one group of patients, there is no control group since the investigators seek to validate the reliability of remote surveillance.