The Safety and Effectiveness of Telemedicine for Cancer-Related Colostomy Care in the Early Stage of Discharge: A Prospective, Randomized, Single-Center Study.

Background: There has been an exponential growth in the use of telemedicine services to provide clinical care. However, the safety and effectiveness of telemedicine in cancer-related colostomy care during the early stages of discharge remain unclear. This study aimed to support that the safety and effectiveness of telemedicine in cancer-related colostomy care were not inferior to those of outpatient care.

Methods: This was a prospective randomized noninferiority study. A total of 76 consecutive patients who underwent cancer-related colostomy stoma were enrolled and randomly divided into a telemedicine group or an outpatient group with an equal allocation ratio (1:1). The outpatient group was provided in-person interview mode colostomy care, whereas the telemedicine group was provided video interview mode colostomy care. The stoma-related complications, self-care ability, and quality of life reflected the safety and effectiveness of colostomy care in the early stages of discharge.

Results: The incidence of stoma-related complications within two weeks and one month after discharge was not significantly different between the two groups (p _2-weeks = 0.772 and p _1-month = 0.760). The mean NCI-CTCAE score for stoma-related complications was less than level 2. The ESCA and C-COH-QOL-OQ scores were not significantly different between the telemedicine and outpatient groups at two weeks and one month after discharge (all p > 0.05).

Conclusion: The results revealed that the safety and effectiveness of telemedicine for cancer-related colostomies in the early stages of discharge were not inferior to those of outpatient care alone.