The Utility of Telemedicine to Manage Post-Operative Pain

Abstract

Telemedicine is defined as practicing medicine via a virtual interface, including email, telephone calls, text messages, video chatting, and personalized online programs. Telemedicine has increased over the past few decades, mainly in psychology and primary care. Recently, surgical specialties have also begun to utilize telemedicine for post-operative care. There are many studies examining telemedicine’s use in managing post-operative pain. This review paper focuses on 17 on postoperative pain management. They found that telemedicine can assist physicians in managing post-operative pain remotely by increasing adherence to post-operative regimens (p < 0.001), providing greater individualized care (p = 0.01), and decreasing post-operative pain medication dependence (p = 0.04).