The Use of Fissios App© as a Complement to a Face-to-Face Respiratory Physiotherapy Program versus an Attendance-Only Face-to-Face Physiotherapy Program in Patients Scheduled for Thoracic Surgical Procedures Reduces the Risk of Developing Postoperative Pulmonary Complications—A Quasi-Experimental Study

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 12; no. 21; p. 6774
• Main Authors: Fraile Olivero, Carlos Alfredo, Jarabo Sarceda, José Ramón, Fernández Martín, Elena, Alen Villamayor, Verónica, Calatayud Gastardi, Joaquín, Gómez Martínez, Ana María, Santos, Passio, Arribas Manzanal, Pedro Daniel, Cerdán Santacruz, Carlos, Hernando Trancho, Florentino
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-11-2023
• Subjects: Chest; Complications; Exercise; Hospitals; Hypotheses; Intervention; Medical personnel; Mobile applications; Mortality; Normal distribution; Ostomy; Outpatient care facilities; Patients; Physical fitness; Physical therapy; Pneumonia; Prevention; Quasi-experimental methods; Respiration disorders; Respiratory therapy; Risk factors; Sample size; Surgeons; Surgery; Testing; Therapeutics, Physiological; Thoracic surgery; Variables; Spain; Madrid Spain
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm12216774

Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) increase the hospital length of stay (LOS) and the cost of healthcare associated with surgical procedures. Strategies to reduce PPCs begin before surgery and continue in the postoperative period. Fissios App© is a smartphone application that contains perioperative medical advice and a structured respiratory physiotherapy program. The objective was to implement the use of this app in a group of patients scheduled for a thoracic surgical procedure and determine its efficacy in reducing PPCs. This was a quasi-experimental study in which all patients attended a face-to-face respiratory physiotherapy program, and the intervention group used Fissios App© as a complement. We prospectively recorded the postoperative evolution of both groups, analyzed the categorical differences and quantitative variables, and created a binary logistic regression model. We recruited 393 patients (131 intervention and 262 control). The intervention group had a lower incidence of PPCs (12.2% versus 24% in the control group, p = 0.006), a shorter LOS (a median of 3 days (IQR = 2–5) versus 4 days (IQR = 3–6, p = 0.001) in the control group), and a reduction in the risk of developing PPCs by 63.5% (OR: 0.365, 95% CI: 0.17–0.78). The use of Fissios App© improved the clinical outcomes after surgery and reduced the probability of developing PPCs.