Wound And Symptom Tracking After Colorectal Surgery Using How2trak

NCT ID: NCT04869774

Last Updated: 2021-05-03

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 80 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-05-31
• Study Completion Date: 2022-02-28

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of using a mobile application (app) called how2trak to improve people's experience, wound surveillance, and detection of surgical site infections (SSI) after colorectal surgery while reducing in-person interactions for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will inform the implementation of a full-scale trial to establish if surveillance of someone's incision and symptoms using how2trak improves SSI detection and management compared to standard care (involving a single post-operative surgery clinic visit).

The data collected will contribute to a broader dataset of people with SSI surveillance to be used in developing a clinical decision support system.

Detailed Description

Background: Surgical site infections (SSI) are the most common nosocomial infection and occur in 16.3% of individuals undergoing colorectal surgery at our institution, the majority of which are identified after discharge from hospital. Patients concerned to have an SSI, generally present to the emergency department or surgery clinic. Both options for in-person interaction are costly to the healthcare system and patients, and increase their risk of COVID-19 exposure. A mobile application How2trak has proven to be beneficial for patients with complex wounds at our institution by facilitating at-home monitoring and virtual consultations.

Aim: This study aims to assess the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial to assess if How2trak can improve patients' experience, and detection of surgical site infections after colorectal surgery while reducing their risk of COVID-19 exposure.

Methods: In this single-center, prospective feasibility trial, eligible patients undergoing elective and semi-urgent colorectal surgery will be randomized to either standard care or How2trak post-operative monitoring of their incision, symptoms, and ostomy function. Patient self-assessments will be monitored by a nurse specialized in wound and ostomy care who will meet virtually with the patient as needed. The primary outcome is feasibility as measured by enrollment, randomization, H2T usability, data extraction, and resource capacity.

Results: We anticipate this work will help us to better understand the feasibility of using mobile technology to optimize patients' care after discharge from hospital after colorectal surgery. Virtual post-surgery wound and symptom monitoring could enhance patient experience, SSI detection, and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. If this technology is feasible for our patient population and workflow, next steps will be to assess its effectiveness with a full-scale randomized controlled trial and explore additional applications including ostomy monitoring, patient education, and application in other surgical departments.

Conditions

Surgical Site Infection; Mobile Applications; Surgery--Complications; Colorectal Surgery

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: DIAGNOSTIC
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Virtual Monitoring

Patients discharged from hospital after colorectal surgery will have virtual monitoring of their surgical incision and symptoms, using the mobile application How2Trak, post-operatively.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

How2Trak mobile application

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Patients will undergo virtual monitoring of their incision and symptoms using the How2Trak application(app). Using the app, patients will be asked to answer a series of questions and photograph their surgical incision on post-operative day 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, and 30. Patient responses and photographs entered into the app will be reviewed within 72 hours by a trained Nurse Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence. If a concern is identified the nurse will contact the patient to arrange a virtual visit using the how2trak app or notify the surgeon team (including colorectal surgeons and physician residents) in accordance with clinical discretion.

Standard of Care

Patients discharged from hospital after colorectal surgery will receive standard of care with no virtual monitoring of their surgical incision and symptoms.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

How2Trak mobile application

Patients will undergo virtual monitoring of their incision and symptoms using the How2Trak application(app). Using the app, patients will be asked to answer a series of questions and photograph their surgical incision on post-operative day 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, and 30. Patient responses and photographs entered into the app will be reviewed within 72 hours by a trained Nurse Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence. If a concern is identified the nurse will contact the patient to arrange a virtual visit using the how2trak app or notify the surgeon team (including colorectal surgeons and physician residents) in accordance with clinical discretion.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Patients must be 16 years of age or older who are being discharged from hospital after undergoing semi-urgent, urgent, or elective abdominal surgery by a colorectal surgeon at The Ottawa Hospital, and have provided informed consent to participate.

Patients enrolled in other clinical trials will still be candidates for this feasibility trial.

Clinicians using the how2trak app in this study will be considered study participants as well. They will be asked to complete the "Patient and Clinician Survey of Application". This survey addresses the experience with the use of the H2T app their feedback regarding usability is fundamental for future improvement.

Exclusion Criteria

• Individuals will be excluded if less than 16 years of age; have no access or ability to use a mobile device; no cellular data/WiFi access; and/or cannot read and write in English.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

The Ottawa Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Health Outcomes Worldwide

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Ottawa

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Reilly Patrick Musselman

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Reilly Musselman, MD, MSc

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Ottawa

Heather Smith, MD, MSc

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Ottawa

Central Contacts

Reilly Musselman, MD, MSc

Role: CONTACT

rmusselman@toh.ca

613-798-5555

Heather Smith, MD,MSc

Role: CONTACT

hsmit037@uottawa.ca

613-798-5555

References

Valk HA, Garcia-Ochoa C, Fontaine Calder J, Miller T, Rashidi B, McIsaac C, Musselman R. A Mobile App for Wound and Symptom Surveillance After Colorectal Surgery: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2022 Jan 14;11(1):e26717. doi: 10.2196/26717.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 34854816 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

20200596-01H

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id