Telemedicine for pediatric pre-anesthetic evaluations resulted in no significant difference in visit numbers compared to in-person assessments, with high parental satisfaction scores.
Does telemedicine reduce the number of visits required for pre-anesthetic checkup in pediatric patients undergoing elective surgery?
Telemedicine for pediatric pre-anesthetic evaluation is comparable to in-person assessment in terms of required visits and parental satisfaction, though airway assessment concordance remains a challenge.
Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%
ABSTRACT Background Telemedicine has emerged as a valuable tool in healthcare, especially in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic, showcasing high satisfaction rates across various medical fields. But its potential benefits for pre‐anesthetic evaluation in children have not been widely studied. Method This pilot randomized controlled trial involves 70 pediatric patients aged 3–12 years compares telemedicine (Group T) with conventional, that is, in‐person assessments (Group C), with the primary outcome being the number of visits required for pre‐anesthetic checkup, while secondary outcomes include cancellation rates on the day of surgery, duration of consultation, parent/guardian satisfaction rates and concordance of pre‐anesthesia checkups between anaesthesiologists. Result Telemedicine demonstrated comparable effectiveness to in‐person assessments, with no statistically significant difference in the number of visits required for anesthesia clearance (mean visits: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.27–1.81 in group T vs. 1.69; 95% CI: 1.42–1.96 in group C). Surgical cancellations or delays occurred in fewer than one case per group. The duration required for primary anesthesia clearance during the initial session in Group T took longer (17 min 22 s; 95% CI: 15 min 25 s–19 min 20s) than in Group C (13 min 19 s; 95% CI: 11 min 47 s–14 min 50s). This difference may be attributed to parental/guardian unfamiliarity with Zoom and the challenges of home‐based assessments, but high satisfaction scores (mean total 5‐point likert satisfaction score = 20.74 ± 1.93 out of 25) suggest acceptance among parents/guardians. Concordance rates between anaesthesiologists for medical history, investigations, documentation, ASA status, and anesthesia plan were high (> 85% of cases) using telemedicine except for airway assessment as it was in agreement in only 45.7% of cases. Conclusion Telemedicine is offering similar clinical outcomes, high parental satisfaction, and greater accessibility and thus underscores its potential to enhance accessibility and convenience in pediatric pre‐anesthesia evaluations without compromising clinical quality. Trial Registration Clinical trial number: CTRI/2022/11/047193
Shah et al. (Tue,) reported a other. Telemedicine for pediatric pre-anesthetic evaluations resulted in no significant difference in visit numbers compared to in-person assessments, with high parental satisfaction scores.