Abstract
Purpose :
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, most early postoperative visits for patients undergoing strabismus surgery were seen in person. During the pandemic, these early visits were switched to virtual visits to limit in-person contact. The purpose is to evaluate the safety of virtual follow-up for the early postoperative period for adult and pediatric strabismus surgery patients.
Methods :
A retrospective chart review of 167 individual patients (age 0-83 years) and 170 surgeries at Gundersen Health System (GHS) in La Crosse, WI by a single provider.
Results :
There was no difference between patients with in-person or virtual appointment types with regard to median days to follow-up, median age at the time of follow-up, or suture adjustability type. There was no difference in individual Surgical Adverse Outcomes (SAO) between the groups with regard to frequency of discomfort (n=9.64%, y=1.81%, p=0.7676), diplopia (n=3.01%, y=1.81%, p=0.3726), and infection (n=0.0%, y=0.6%, p=0.2169). There was no association between appointment type and combined SOAs (n=12.05%, y=4.22%, p=0.6110).
Conclusions :
This review did not review any difference between patients who had virtual or in-person follow up with regard to age, type of surgery, time to first follow-up, and SAO. This may suggest early virtual follow-up for patients undergoing strabismus surgery is an acceptable option. Anecdotally, patients reported high satisfaction with virtual visits in the early postoperative period. Although the initial practice pattern change was in response to the COVID19 pandemic, it has continued to prove helpful for patients by not only limiting in person contact, but also decreasing known burdens of care such as cost of travel and time out of school or work. For the stated reasons, virtual post-operative care for strabismus surgery patients should be considered as a routine practice pattern. Future investigations will explore any possible association with late onset SAOs, to solidify the safety of the virtual visit in the late postoperative period.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.