Postoperative Care After Carpal Tunnel Release Using Short Educational Videos (VIDEO)

October 16, 2024 updated by: Cesar J Bravo, Carilion Clinic

Patient Directed Care After Carpal Tunnel Release Using Video Integration and Digital Education After Operations (VIDEO)

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a patient-directed postoperative care program, using short educational videos, can improve patient satisfaction and reduce healthcare resource utilization in patients undergoing carpal tunnel release (CTR). The main questions it aims to answer are:

Will patients in the video-based care program be more satisfied with their postoperative care? Will this approach reduce healthcare resource use and the burden on patients without increasing complication rates? Researchers will compare the video-based patient-directed care group to the standard in-person follow-up group to see if patient satisfaction and resource use differ while maintaining similar outcomes and complication rates.

Participants will:

Watch three short educational videos (< 60 seconds each) on postoperative care. Schedule a suture removal appointment with a nurse at their convenience if needed.

Continue to have access to their provider through traditional methods such as phone, EMR, or urgent in-person visits.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Carpal tunnel release (CTR) is a commonly performed procedure with predictable outcomes and a low complication rate. Traditionally, patients are scheduled for two postoperative follow-up visits-one at two weeks and another at six weeks. However, these routine visits rarely lead to a change in patient management and often impose logistical and financial burdens on patients, particularly for those living in rural areas who must travel long distances to their healthcare provider's clinic.

This study proposes an alternative postoperative care model for CTR patients that leverages short educational videos and allows patients to manage their recovery more independently. The experimental group in the study will receive three brief (< 60 seconds each) educational videos after surgery. These videos will cover key aspects of postoperative care, including wound management and when to seek medical attention. Unlike the traditional model, patients in this group will not have scheduled in-person or virtual follow-up visits unless they require them. All patients in the experimental group will still have access to their healthcare provider through standard communication channels, such as:

Calling the office for advice or concerns. Sending secure messages through the electronic medical record (EMR) system. Attending urgent in-person visits if necessary. If nonabsorbable sutures are used during surgery, patients in the experimental group will schedule an appointment for suture removal with a nurse at their convenience, usually 10-14 days post-surgery.

The primary goal of the study is to determine whether this patient-directed care model, which utilizes educational videos, can improve patient satisfaction and reduce the use of healthcare resources without compromising care quality or increasing complication rates.

Specific Aim: The study aims to evaluate whether a patient-directed postoperative care program for CTR can:

Improve patient satisfaction. Reduce healthcare resource utilization. Lessen the burden of care (e.g., fewer missed workdays and less time spent on healthcare-related activities).

Maintain comparable patient-reported outcomes, complication rates, and the number of urgent visits as those observed in traditional in-person follow-up care.

Hypotheses:

Patients who receive the educational videos will report higher satisfaction with their care.

These patients will miss fewer days of work and spend less time on health-related activities.

The experimental group will consume fewer healthcare resources (e.g., fewer clinic visits).

Patient-reported outcomes, complication rates, and urgent visits will be similar between the experimental and standard in-person care groups.

Significance: The results of this study have the potential to transform and enhance postoperative care for patients undergoing CTR and other minor surgical procedures. By reducing the need for routine in-person visits, the proposed care model can help alleviate the burden on patients, particularly those from rural areas. Additionally, reducing clinic utilization for straightforward postoperative cases could increase the availability of clinic appointments for more complex cases, thereby improving overall healthcare system efficiency. This patient-directed model could also be expanded to other surgical and nonsurgical conditions, empowering patients to take a more active role in their recovery while maintaining high standards of care.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

84

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

  • United States
    • Virginia
      • Roanoke, Virginia, United States, 24014
        • Carilion Clinic Orthopaedic Surgery

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients undergoing either endoscopic (CPT 29848) or open CTR (CPT 64721)
  • Access to a smartphone, tablet, or computer to view educational videos
  • Access to internet to download or view postoperative education videos
  • Age 18 or older

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients undergoing any additional procedures
  • Worker's compensation status
  • Revision procedures
  • Patients unable to utilize technology to view videos or follow instructions
  • Patients with no access to internet
  • Inability to provide informed consent for the study
  • Patients unable to speak English fluently

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Standard of Care
In-person group will be followed with standard -of-care postoperative clinic visits with a hand & upper extremity orthopaedic surgeon at Carilion Clinic Institute for Orthopaedics and Neurosciences at 2 weeks and 6 weeks from date of service.
Experimental: Video Management
Postoperative education will be provided with 3 short videos that will be accessible to patients on all social media platforms and through MyChart with no scheduled in person postoperative visits. Patients will have a one time visit with either nurse or orthopaedic technician for suture removal 10-14 days from surgery if the participant has nonabsorbable sutures placed during surgery.
Other: Educational Videos
Subjects in the experimental group will be provided with 3 links to videos to be watched after CTR surgery. These videos will be available through YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or MyChart. Videos will be available to watch multiple times at the subjects choice.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) / Upper Extremity Computer Adaptive Test (UE CAT) / 5-Point Likert Scale
Time Frame: 2 and 6 weeks postoperatively
All patient reported outcome measures will be reported at 2 and 6 weeks postoperatively. All responses will be recorded within the study's REDCap data base.
2 and 6 weeks postoperatively

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time Taken Off Work
Time Frame: Baseline to 6 week follow up
Reported by patient or care giver during 2 and 6-week postoperative visits. (hours)
Baseline to 6 week follow up
Travel time.
Time Frame: Baseline to 6 week follow up
Time spent traveling to attend postoperative care appointments. (hours)
Baseline to 6 week follow up
Number of Unplanned Visits
Time Frame: Baseline to 6 week follow up.
The number of visits that were not originally scheduled as a part of standard of care procedures.
Baseline to 6 week follow up.
Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline to 6 week follow up.
Will record patient satisfaction as well as the number of unplanned visits, time taken off of work (hours), and travel time to attend appointments for postoperative care (hours).
Baseline to 6 week follow up.
Wound Complications
Time Frame: Baseline to 6 week follow up.
Electronic Medical Records review will be performed to determine: Number of wound complications.
Baseline to 6 week follow up.
Total In Person Postoperative Visits
Time Frame: Baseline to 6 week follow up.
Electronic Medical Records review will be performed to determine: Total number of in person postoperative visits
Baseline to 6 week follow up.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Carilion Clinic

Collaborators

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Cesar Bravo, M.D., Carilion Clinic

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)

June 1, 2022

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 31, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 16, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 16, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

October 18, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 18, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 16, 2024

Last Verified

October 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB-21-1469

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

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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.

Clinical Trials on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Clinical Trials on Educational Videos

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Uruguay

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe