Patient Satisfaction With Postoperative Follow up After Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy

April 22, 2021 updated by: Shan Biscette, University of Louisville

Patient Satisfaction With Two and Six Week Postoperative Follow up Appointments After Benign Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy Versus Two Week Postoperative Visit Alone: a Randomized Controlled Trial

This prospective, randomized control trial will evaluate patient satisfaction with the number of postoperative follow up visits after minimally invasive hysterectomy for the treatment of non-cancerous conditions at an urban academic hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. Patients will be randomized to receive either a two and six week postoperative follow up visits versus a postoperative follow up visit at six weeks alone.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The objective of follow up appointments following benign gynecologic surgery is to ensure adequate postoperative recovery, assess additional patient concerns, and to identify and manage any delayed postoperative complications. There is limited literature addressing short-term postoperative follow up for benign gynecologic surgery, particularly those performed through a minimally invasive approach.

The benefits of minimally invasive surgery includes shorter operative time, reduced hospital stay, improved cosmesis, and faster recovery especially when combined with enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols. However, this does not negate the need for follow up. Although no consensus exists on the appropriate frequency and number of postoperative appointments, there is no debate on its value.

Due to lack of evidence on this issue, the number and frequency of postoperative appointments is currently dependent on surgeon preference, type of procedure performed and complications encountered intraoperatively and postoperatively, which could lead to patient confusion and unnecessary cost and hassle.

For this reason, investigation of outcomes based on the number and frequency of postoperative follow up visits may improve optimal patient satisfaction, improve compliance and provide early detection of postoperative complications. Such knowledge could serve to mitigate efforts to develop and implement protocols to improve compliance with postoperative follow-up care, potentially reduce emergency room visits, readmissions, empower patients and reduce cost.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

174

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Kentucky
      • Louisville, Kentucky, United States, 40202
        • Health Care Outpatient Center and University of Louisville

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients of University of Louisville gynecology providers age 18-70 who are planning to undergo a minimally invasive hysterectomy for benign indications.
  • Incident surgery must be performed at the University of Louisville Hospital (or affiliated hospital attended by a provider affiliated with the academic department).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with decreased mental capacity who are unable to consent.
  • Patients who do not have sufficient English proficiency to complete or understand informed consent for the surgery or study questionnaires.
  • Patients with unreliable access to a telephone.
  • Patients with significant medical comorbidities that would necessitate more frequent follow up.
  • Patients for whom the planned number of follow ups have been pre-determined at the pre-operative visit due to a certain medical need or condition.
  • Patients who report an inability to comply with postoperative follow up in either group to which they could be randomized.
  • Women who decide at their preoperative visit they do not desire or cannot undergo benign gynecologic surgery as scheduled.
  • Women who have medical contraindication to undergoing the benign gynecologic surgery that was planned prior, as determined in their best interest by their provider

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Two and six week follow up
Patients will be assigned to routine two and six week postoperative follow up appointments
Comparison of two and six week postoperative follow up versus a six week postoperative follow up alone
Experimental: Six week follow up only
Patients will be assigned to a single six week postoperative follow up appointment
Comparison of two and six week postoperative follow up versus a six week postoperative follow up alone

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient satisfaction
Time Frame: 6 weeks
To assess patient satisfaction with the number of postoperative follow up office visits after minimally invasive hysterectomy for benign indications utilizing the Surgical Care - Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Clinician & Group Survey.
6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Postoperative complication rate
Time Frame: 6 weeks
Determine the type and number of postoperative complications as assessed using the Clavien-Dindo Classification system has been selected as a validated and objective measure to collect data pertaining to postoperative complications
6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Shan Biscette, MD, University of Louisville School of Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 8, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 31, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

March 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 2, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 20, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

August 22, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 26, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2021

Last Verified

April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 18.0481

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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