Telemedicine in Acute Trauma Care: A Review of Quantitative Evaluations on the Impact of Remote Consultation

Background There is extensive literature describing the application of telemedicine techniques to trauma care. However, there is a paucity of articles showing quantitative assessment of its safety and efficacy. This structured review examines articles with quantitative assessment of telemedicine’s i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American Surgeon 2024-12, Vol.90 (12), p.3284-3293
Main Authors: Patel, Prem, Aucar, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Decision making
Emergency medical care
Emergency medical services
Emergency procedures
Injuries
Injury prevention
Length of stay
Medicine
Mortality
Pandemics
Patients
Quantitative analysis
Quantitative research
Search strategies
Telemedicine
Trauma
Trauma care
Trauma centers
User satisfaction
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Background There is extensive literature describing the application of telemedicine techniques to trauma care. However, there is a paucity of articles showing quantitative assessment of its safety and efficacy. This structured review examines articles with quantitative assessment of telemedicine’s impact in acute trauma care. Methods Medline and CINAHL databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles that quantitatively assess the impact of telemedicine on diagnostic accuracy, clinical decision-making, emergency department length of stay, transfer rates, and mortality in initial trauma management. Results Only 9 of the 408 screened articles met the criteria for quantitative assessment. Telemedicine appears to be preferentially used for more severely injured patients. Limited quality evidence supports procedural interventions at remote sites. Telemedicine may help abbreviate pre-transfer length of stay. However, its impact on diagnosis and mortality remains unclear. Conclusions Telemedicine’s potential to enhance the quality and efficiency of trauma care, especially for resource-scarce areas, warrants continued quantitative research.
ISSN:0003-1348
1555-9823
1555-9823
DOI:10.1177/00031348241265146