Clinical trial · Interventional
Telemedicine Follow-up for Routine, Low-Risk Oculoplastic Surgery
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The investigators propose utilizing a simple telemedical protocol to allow patients to substitute the first post-operative visit with a remote survey that includes essential post-operative history, vision measurement, and photographs, all of which can be provided using a personal computer, tablet, or smart phone. The investigators have selected for this purpose a subset of oculoplastic procedures involving the eyelid and lacrimal system that have well-reported low rates of serious complications, since high-risk procedures will likely always require close, in-person care. The investigators hypothesize that telemedicine follow-up for the first post-operative week after low-risk oculoplastic surgery will decrease the time burden on patients without compromising their satisfaction or increase the risk of late post-operative complications.
Conditions
Conditions (9)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blepharoptosis | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Dermatochalasis | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Ectropion | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Entropion | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Eyelid Diseases | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Eyelid Tumor | Eyelid Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Floppy Eyelid Syndrome | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Ptosis, Eyelid | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Skin Cancer, Eyelid | Malignant Skin Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.85 |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telemedicine follow-up | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Telemedicine
- description
- Patients in the telemedicine arm will have their post-operative week one visit via a telemedicine portal.
- interventionNames
- Other: Telemedicine follow-up
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Routine
- description
- Patient in the routine arm will have their post-operative week one visit in clinic.
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- FACE-Q 'Satisfaction with Outcome'
- timeFrame
- Approximately 3 months post-operatively
- description
- A patient-reported outcome measure assessing satisfaction with the surgical outcome.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Are age 18 years or older * Are fluent in English * Own or have ready access to a smart phone, tablet, or personal computer with high speed internet * Participate in an informed consent process with the surgeon(s) including documentation of written informed consent * Are undergoing a low-risk\* eyelid procedure in a clinic, ambulatory surgery center, or hospital operating room setting, including but not limited to: * upper eyelid blepharoplasty repair * ectropion repair * entropion repair * external levator resection * internal levator resection * eyelid lesion removal and/or biopsy * eyelid reconstruction and defect repair including after Mohs' surgery * eyelid tightening procedures for Floppy Eyelid Syndrome * tarsorrhaphy * dacryocystorhinostomy (\*)These listed procedures have a low reported rate of serious complications including vision loss, infection, severe bleeding, or death; however, surgical risk is ultimately determined by the surgeon on a per-patient basis, except in those cases specifically excluded in the subsequent section. Exclusion Criteria: * Are under the age of 18 years * Are incarcerated * Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during the period of surgery and 3 month recovery (however these patients are not eligible for elective eyelid surgery) * Are not fluent in English * Do not have access to or do not feel comfortable using a smart phone, tablet, or personal computer * Lack personal capacity for consent (i.e. those patients requiring consent for the surgery by a legal representative are excluded) * Experience a serious intra-operative complication (this criterion is assessed after initial consent) * Are undergoing eyelid or other oculoplastic procedures that are deemed greater than low-risk for serious complications, including but not limited to: * orbital surgery * lower eyelid blepharoplasty * repair of extensive eyelid defects following Mohs' surgery (roughly \>33%) * procedures requiring skin grafting * procedures requiring extensive tissue rearrangement * procedures involving an implant (e.g. frontalis sling, gold weight implantation; except dacryocystorhinostomy due to the low-risk nature of the lacrimal stent) * procedures requiring in-person care at the first post-operative week (e.g. suture removal, bolster removal, patch removal) Notably, patients undergoing greater than low risk procedures listed here are absolutely excluded from this trial. Surgeon assessment of individual patient surgical risk only applies to those typically low-risk procedures listed in the previous section on inclusion criteria; reasons for escalation of risk level include patient characteristics (e.g. frailty, previous infection or wound dehiscence), re-operation/revision status, or other factors.
References
Publications (10)
- BACKGROUNDVyas KS, Hambrick HR, Shakir A, Morrison SD, Tran DC, Pearson K, Vasconez HC, Mardini S, Gosman AA, Dobke M, Granick MS. A Systematic Review of the Use of Telemedicine in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Dermatology. Ann Plast Surg. 2017 Jun;78(6):736-768. doi: 10.1097/SAP.0000000000001044. PMID 28328635
- BACKGROUNDHwa K, Wren SM. Telehealth follow-up in lieu of postoperative clinic visit for ambulatory surgery: results of a pilot program. JAMA Surg. 2013 Sep;148(9):823-7. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2013.2672. PMID 23842982
- BACKGROUNDKummerow Broman K, Roumie CL, Stewart MK, Castellanos JA, Tarpley JL, Dittus RS, Pierce RA. Implementation of a Telephone Postoperative Clinic in an Integrated Health System. J Am Coll Surg. 2016 Oct;223(4):644-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2016.07.010. Epub 2016 Aug 18. PMID 27545100
- BACKGROUNDRobaldo A, Rousas N, Pane B, Spinella G, Palombo D. Telemedicine in vascular surgery: clinical experience in a single centre. J Telemed Telecare. 2010;16(7):374-7. doi: 10.1258/jtt.2010.091011. Epub 2010 Aug 2. PMID 20679407
- BACKGROUNDWilliams AM, Bhatti UF, Alam HB, Nikolian VC. The role of telemedicine in postoperative care. Mhealth. 2018 May 2;4:11. doi: 10.21037/mhealth.2018.04.03. eCollection 2018. PMID 29963556
- BACKGROUNDCarter SR, Stewart JM, Khan J, Archer KF, Holds JB, Seiff SR, Dailey RA. Infection after blepharoplasty with and without carbon dioxide laser resurfacing. Ophthalmology. 2003 Jul;110(7):1430-2. doi: 10.1016/S0161-6420(03)00447-0. PMID 12867404
- BACKGROUNDChang S, Lehrman C, Itani K, Rohrich RJ. A systematic review of comparison of upper eyelid involutional ptosis repair techniques: efficacy and complication rates. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2012 Jan;129(1):149-157. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e318230a1c7.