Abstract
The aim of this work was to demonstrate the advantages of using telemedicine (TM) in the management of the outpatients with maxillofacial surgical pathologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted at the MaxilloFacial Surgery Unit of “Magna Graecia” University of Catanzaro, on two different groups of patients: a group of follow-up patients (A1: patients in oncological follow-up after surgical treatment performed before the COVID-19 pandemic; A2: suffering from chronic lesions such as precancerous lesions), and a group B of patients with first urgent visits (B1: patients with suspected oncological pathology; B2: patients with suspected urgent disease such as medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (MRONJ), odontogenic abscesses, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dislocation, etc.). Participation in the study required possession of a smartphone with Internet access, e-mail and the use of a messaging service (WhatsApp or Telegram) to send photos and messages; completion by the patient of a COVID-19 screening questionnaire; submission of a satisfaction questionnaire by the doctors and patients. A total of 90 patients were included in this study. A high percentage of satisfaction emerged from the analysis of the satisfaction questionnaires of both patients and doctors.TM thus represents an excellent opportunity to improve accessibility to oncological and non-management activities, reducing the risk of Covid-19 dissemination and should be promoted and implemented in the post-pandemic era.
Highlights
To minimize the interruption of health services during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for urgent outpatient visits and oncological follow-up, TM meetings have been implemented and adopted by many academic medical centres, becoming an important tool in this period of limited face-to-face interaction [1,2]
The A group included 63 follow-up patients: subgroup A1 was formed by 54 patients (86%) with oncological pathology after surgical treatment performed before the COVID-19 pandemic, subgroup
B1 was submandibular gland cancer; subgroup B2 was formed by 15 patients (55.5%) of which 7 for medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (MRONJ), patients of which were for three suspected skin cancer; eight cancer andsalivary one for submandibular two forthree
Summary
To minimize the interruption of health services during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for urgent outpatient visits and oncological follow-up, TM meetings have been implemented and adopted by many academic medical centres, becoming an important tool in this period of limited face-to-face interaction [1,2]. TM can be defined as the set of telematic technologies used to provide the patient with health care services—diagnosis, monitoring, therapy—at distance. It is a distance delivery of health services. Indicates the use of technologies, information and communication to improve the health outcomes of patients, increasing access to medical care and information. What qualifies the TM is the prefix “Tele”, that is the distance from the health worker who provides the service, regardless of the technology with which the contact is made. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, TM, available for years, was gradually entering medical practice [3] and in any case used above all in chronic patients to offer home remote monitoring solutions that guaranteed continuity of care by
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