Post Operative App in Breast Augmentation Surgery

Goals/Purpose: Remote patient monitoring via mobile health (mHealth) phone applications (apps) is becoming increasingly common in postoperative surgical practice [1, 2]. The primary mutual benefit of mHealth apps with purpose-built self-assessment functions is that the clinician can be alerted of potential complications without needing to physically assess the patient, saving both parties time [3]. Clinically adverse events arising from complications are more likely to arise early in the postoperative period. Well-designed mHealth apps have the potential to reduce the patient’s feelings of vulnerability during the early stages of recovery when complications are more likely [4].

While the use of mHealth apps have been described in the postoperative care of a plethora of surgery cohorts [5-9], relatively few studies have observed breast augmentation patients. Moreover, there is a severe paucity of literature describing the clinician’s experience using mHealth apps in practice and the ‘real-world’ benefits and challenges for support staff and the patient after breast augmentation surgery. Accordingly, the aim of the current study was to describe the use of a proprietary mHealth app in primary breast augmentation patients for the first 24 h after surgery.

Methods/Technique: 120 patients were monitored postoperatively during the first 24 h following primary breast augmentation surgery. The patients received a mobile phone app and then were alerted at 1600 h with instructions to complete an electronic questionnaire with several parameters which was then tabled.

Results/Complications: Responses from the electronic questionnaire revealed nausea in approximately one quarter of all patients. The average pain score was 4 ± 2. Only ~5% of patients reported >100 mL in each drain. All patients reported in-tact dressings. A very small portion of patients (4%) requested a call back from the surgery staff, none of which resulted in complications requiring urgent medical attention.

Conclusion: In the current study, a mobile phone app was used to enhance communication between the patient and surgery staff following discharge in the first 24 h after primary breast augmentation surgery. The primary practical benefit of using an app is that the clinical markers assessed via the app were able to remotely provide the surgery team with a snapshot of the patient’s self-reported state without unnecessary communication. mHealth apps will become more useful in the future given most patients have smartphones. They are useful as they ask the patient to enter the information and then by algorithm assessment they can be contacted if needed or let the surgeon team know they are stable. It must be acknowledged that no assessments directly assessed the usability the app for postoperative monitoring however anecdotal evidence from the patients and surgery team strongly supported its use in clinic. Future studies in breast augmentation surgery cohorts are needed to assess the feasibility of mHealth apps in elective surgery settings.