Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Surgery Selfies Prevent Post-Op Disasters


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Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/3GA51tTaZ5w

 

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