Fitness trackers shed light on patients' postoperative recovery

Researchers believe data from fitness trackers (including total step counts) can also tell how well patients will recover from major abdominal operations. These wearables provide an easier way for surgeons to monitor patients following discharge, which can offer greater insight into postoperative functional recovery.

Researchers studied 20 cancer patients who were having major abdominal operations, such as the removal of colorectal, gastric or pancreatic tumors. Patients were given a fitness tracker to count steps three to seven days before surgery, during their time in the hospital and two weeks after discharge. On top of tracking their steps, patients completed an online survey to document symptoms and quality of life during the same periods of time.

"This wireless technology, which many people use, has great potential to detect real-time changes in surgical patients' functional recovery," said principal investigator Virginia Sun, PhD, RN, an assistant professor in the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif.

The results were presented at the 2016 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Researchers compared the baseline number of steps with the number of steps after the operation.

Results included:

• Patient adherence was very high, with 88 percent of patients always wearing the device before the operations and 82 percent wearing it after surgery.
• Patient satisfaction score was also high with a rating of four out of five.
• Online surveys revealed that pain and other symptoms only moderately affected the number of postoperative steps.
• The number of steps on day seven correlated with the median score on the complication index.
• The median number of steps on Day 7 was of 1,247, only 19 percent of their median preoperative daily steps.

Using the steps tracked and an online survey, surgeons are able to identify the patients most at risk for complications. This also helps reduce the need for follow-up phone calls and appointments because the steps and surveys help show how they are recovering.

"With our monitoring system, even before the first postoperative follow-up appointment, we have information about the patients' recovery," said Sinziana Dumitra, MD, a surgical oncology fellow at City of Hope. "We could use that information to call them and say, 'You need to walk more,' or to set them up with physical therapy."