Bariatric patients represent a peculiar and frail subset of subjects, constantly increasing. During the novel coronavirus disease outbreak, for the lockdown of any non-urgent and non-oncological activity, the access to healthcare services was severely limited, according to the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders.
The constant and strict follow-up is mandatory in this special subset of patients. Therefore, starting from the telemedicine experience in different medical fields, in our bariatric surgery division we designed and started a dedicated project to follow-up obese patients using remote counselling.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
138
Patients that referred for the first time to our bariatric center were investigated for anthropometric, psychological and instrumental data in order to evaluate the eligibility for a future bariatric procedure. In established patients, eligibility for tele-consultation was evaluated by three experienced physicians, consulting the stored patients' data. All included patients provided oral informed consent. Patients approached the virtual visit with their personal smart devices, desktop or laptop computer. Medical counselling was performed using a desktop or laptop computer from the Hospital or home in a smart working modality. The video call was carried out using Skype platform by Microsoft®; any document drawn up by the physician was saved as pdf using the Cute Professional™ PDF software, that allows to add passwords and set security options to protect the patients' data.
University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli"
Naples, Italy
Evaluation of feasibility of telemedicine in outpatient visit in bariatric patients
Telemedicine to follow-up and identify sing or symptom of alarm in patient undergoing bariatric surgery or in established bariatric patients during COVID-19 outbreak
Time frame: 2 months
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