BACKGROUND: Plastic surgeons frequently participate in international surgical trips. This model of care is often criticized due to a lack of postoperative follow-up, which limits outcome measurement and decreases surgeon accountability. This study assessed the efficacy of collecting outcomes from international pediatric patient parents using the social media application “WhatsApp.”
METHODS: All patients in this study were operated on during a pediatric hand surgery trip to Lima, Peru, in May 2019. All parents of patients receiving surgery were invited to participate in the study. General follow-up and a satisfaction survey utilizing a Likert scale (1–5) was sent to patient providers through WhatsApp at 3- and 6-week intervals.
RESULTS: Forty-five patient providers agreed to participate in this study. Eighty percent (36/45) responded fully to surveys at 3-week postoperatively, and 51% (23/45) responded fully at 6 weeks. Patients reported high levels of satisfaction with the outcome of operations (4.3/5), attitude of the treatment team (4.6/5), and changes in quality of life (4.3/5), hand appearance (4.1/5), and hand function (4.1/5). Of those who responded at 3 weeks, 50% (17/34) sent postoperative photos, and 50% (17/34) had specific unanswered questions related to their care. Four patients had concerns of limited finger mobility (8.9%), 3 had continued contracture (6.7%), and 1 patient (2.2%) was rehospitalized following surgery for prolonged infection.
CONCLUSION: The parents of international pediatric hand surgery patients had access and were responsive to provider communication through the WhatsApp application. Although most parents reported high levels of satisfaction, many still had unanswered questions related to their care, highlighting the importance of our postoperative follow-up. All plastic surgeons operating internationally should consider using WhatsApp and other related messaging tools for outcome collection and the improvement of patient care. Future studies will aim to establish a more standardized and robust model for this type of outcome collection.