Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Surgery Selfies Prevent Post-Op Disasters - Best Of: 11/25/2021


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Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/CraCMLiv6HH/


When infection occurs post-operatively, a timely selfie of the operative incision is nearly 4 times more likely to prevent a delayed diagnosis.   University of Edinburgh surgeons proved this point with the study of 233 surgical patients following their operations.


Each patient was contacted on days 3, 7, and 15 post-operatively, questioned about how they were feeling, and asked to take a selfie of their wounds.  A surgeon evaluated each photo.  The patients were again contacted at day 30 postop to find out if they had been diagnosed with an infection.


When compared with a control group of 269 surgical patients who were followed without photos, those in the selfie group had any wound infections diagnosed within 7 days of surgery about 4 times more frequently.  Don’t forget to tell your incision to smile!


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-021-00526-0


#selfie #surgery #infection #incision #delayeddiagnosis



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Dr. Howard Smith ReportsBy Howard G. Smith MD, AM