A preliminary study of the feasibility of wound telecare for the elderly

Debray, Matthieu; Couturier, Pascal; Greuillet, F; Höhn, Cindy; Banerjee, Sikhar; Gavazzi, G.; Franco, Alain

doi:10.1258/1357633011937001

Cited by 28 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Most of these studies demonstrate high accordance for the diagnosis of inflammatory and neoplastic skin diseases [17, 18, 19, 20, 21], and particularly for the diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions (teledermoscopy) [22, 23, 24, 25, 26]. Up to now only a few reports have discussed the use of teledermatology in the diagnosis and care of patients with leg ulcers [27, 28, 29, 30]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wound Teleconsultation in Patients with Chronic Leg Ulcers

Salmhofer¹,

Hofmann‐Wellenhof²,

Gabler

et al. 2005

Dermatology

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Background: The treatment of chronic leg ulcers requires frequent assessments of local wound status and adjustment of therapy. The availability of reasonably priced photographic equipment and quick electronic transfer of high-quality digital images should make it possible that the assessment of wound status can be made by remote experts. Objective: This study examines the feasibility of using teledermatology for wound assessment and therapeutic suggestions for patients with chronic leg ulcers. Methods: One hundred ten chronic leg ulcers of different origins were examined in face-to-face consultations. The examining doctor assessed the wound, made therapeutic recommendations and took 1–4 photographs of the wound using a digital camera. The digital images and relevant clinical information were then transmitted via a web application to an expert in wound care, who provided an independent teledermatological assessment of wound status and therapeutic recommendations. Results: In our study, a high accordance between direct consultations and electronic consultations was found in the assessment of chronic leg ulcers, especially for important features like slough (concordance: 84.6%), necrosis (concordance: 98.2%) and granulation tissue formation (concordance: 76.4%). Furthermore, the teledermatologist generally felt confident in recommending further treatment strategies and in planning further wound assessments via the internet. Conclusions: Our results suggest that teledermatology offers great potential for the future in chronic wound care. By reducing the need to travel long distances to the hospital or to consult a physician with expertise in wound care, wound teleconsultation might lower health care costs and improve the quality of life for patients with chronic wounds, while still maintaining a high quality of wound care.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wound Teleconsultation in Patients with Chronic Leg Ulcers

Salmhofer¹,

Hofmann‐Wellenhof²,

Gabler

et al. 2005

Dermatology

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“…Preliminary results of the studies by Wilbright et al 3 and Debray et al 4 suggest that clinical images together with additional data from the patient's history are usually sufficient for a correct diagnosis and appropriate therapy of diabetes-related foot ulcers and wounds in elderly patients.…”

Section: For Editorial Comment See Page 1581mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[7][8][9] Up to now, only a few reports have discussed the use of teledermatology in the diagnosis and care of patients with leg ulcers. [3][4][5][6]10,11 The diagnosis of leg ulcers is usually straightforward, whether it is made by clinical examination or based on a digital image. A correct classification of the leg ulcer can usually be made, based on clinical presentation and additional data from the patient's history, concerning both the ulcer and concomitant diseases.…”

Section: Commentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teledermatological Monitoring of Leg Ulcers in Cooperation With Home Care Nurses

Binder¹,

Hofmann‐Wellenhof²,

Salmhofer³

et al. 2007

Arch Dermatol

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“…In previous studies using a similar resolution and criteria as this study, the interobserver agreement was similar to our findings. [19][20][21][22] Because the therapeutic decisions made for leg ulcers are very different from one physician to another, we did not include questions concerning the treatment of the ulcers. This study was limited to the evaluation and the analysis of the ulcer, because these are directly related to the image and the device.…”

Section: Commentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telemedical Wound Care Using a New Generation of Mobile Telephones

Braun

Vecchietti²,

Thomas³

et al. 2005

Arch Dermatol

107

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Background: Leg ulcers are an important cost factor in health care systems. It has been shown that a telemedical wound care consultation can improve quality of care and help reduce costs. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of telemedical wound care using a new generation of mobile telephones with integrated cameras.Observations: Three physicians separately evaluated 61 leg ulcers for the following 9 variables: epithelialization, fibrin, necrosis, and granulation tissue at the center and normal border, erythema, cyanosis, eczema, and hyperpigmentation at the periphery. One physician performed the face-to-face consultation (gold standard), and 2 others performed the remote evaluation. The image was obtained with the mobile telephone and immediately sent via e-mail. To measure the agreement of the evaluation among the 3 physicians, we used Cohen statistics. Overall, the agreement between the remote and face-to-face evaluations was very good, with values of up to 0.94 The image quality was judged to be good in 36 cases (59%) and very good in 12 (20%). The participants felt comfortable making a diagnosis based on the pictures in 50 cases (82%). Conclusion:Although this study was performed with the first generation of these devices, we were able to demonstrate the feasibility of such a telemedical wound care consultation.

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A preliminary study of the feasibility of wound telecare for the elderly

Cited by 28 publications

References 7 publications

Wound Teleconsultation in Patients with Chronic Leg Ulcers

Wound Teleconsultation in Patients with Chronic Leg Ulcers

Teledermatological Monitoring of Leg Ulcers in Cooperation With Home Care Nurses

Telemedical Wound Care Using a New Generation of Mobile Telephones

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