Remote digital surgical wound monitoring and surveillance using smartphones

The use of patient smartphones for remote monitoring and surveillance of surgical wounds presents an exciting opportunity to bridge the gap between national surveillance standards for surgical infections and their practical application in care delivery. Patient-reported outcomes, including digital images, could drive efficiency in surveillance, improve patient care directly and help identify trends in complication rates and outbreaks. This would take a proactive approach to monitoring, rather than a quasi-retrospective 30-day follow up, and it could incorporate additional information such as pain scores to help provide responsive patient care.

Digital post-operative wound monitoring using patient smartphones is in the early stages of implementation. However, a combination of high-quality evidence,6 real-world data implementation and ongoing studies, suggests numerous benefits, including earlier detection of surgical site infections, reduced morbidity, fewer healthcare visits and high patient satisfaction. There is also emerging evidence for the sustainability of this approach.

Routine use of remote monitoring needs to be acceptable and accessible to patients, with consideration of their needs and preferences. This will involve a focus on improving access to healthcare and two-way communication with care professionals. Successful uptake will also require healthcare workers to adopt new ways of working, which could be assisted with workforce solutions and artificial intelligence.