The Usefulness of Real-Time Remote Diagnosis by Videophone, for Patients Who Have Sustained Head Injuries Arising from Winter Sports in Mountainous Areas

抄録

 We examined the usability of remote diagnosis by videophone for patients with head injuries. For 76 patients with head injuries who were examined at a local hospital (Omachi Municipal Hospital), we conducted real time, remote diagnosis at the remote support hospital (Shinshu University Hospital), using Computed Tomography (CT) image transfer and videophone. In order to evaluate the difference between face-to-face treatment and remote diagnosis, first we performed face-to-face treatment at the local hospital, then compared the results with the remote diagnosis from the center hospital. As a result of the comparison between face-to-face treatment and remote diagnosis, we found that there was no significant difference in the diagnosis of traumatic impairment of consciousness, retrograde amnesia, impaired consciousness and focal symptoms. For all of these diagnoses, the sensitivity was 100%, the specificity was 96.7–100% and there was no statistically significant decrease. Remote diagnosis doctors were able to confirm head region subdermal hematoma, black eye and scalp laceration over the videophone. We asked 8 doctors who participated in the remote diagnosis about the usability of the videophone and all of them answered that it was useful. By using CT image transfer together with remote diagnosis by videophone, we were able to perform a diagnosis much closer to face-to-face treatment.