The effect of additional telerounding on postoperative outcomes, patient and surgeon satisfaction rates in the patients who underwent percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: We wanted to investigate the potential effect of additional telerounding system on postoperative outcomes, patient and surgeon satisfaction rates in the patients who underwent percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL). METHODS: Eighty patients who underwent PNL were included in the study. The patients were randomly divided to two groups. Group 1 included 40 patients who were followed-up with standard rounds and group 2 included 40 patients who were followed-up with telerounding in addition to standard rounds. Patient and surgeon satisfaction rates were assessed with a visual analog scale (VAS) where 0 point represents very dissatisfied and 100 points very satisfied. RESULTS: Mean time of preoperative telerounding visit was 3.65 +/- 0.59 (2-4) minutes. Mean time of telerounding visits on the postoperative 1st and 2nd days was 3.80 +/- 0.62 and 2.9 +/- 0.91 minutes respectively. The VAS score evaluating the surgeon's satisfaction rate for telerounding was 91 +/- 11.2 and patients expressed a high level of satisfaction with 72.5%. CONCLUSION: The use of additional telerounding in urological patient care provides high satisfaction rates for both the patients and the surgeon. However the findings of the present study don't underestimate the importance of personal surgeon-patient interaction.