LAUSR

INTRODUCTION COVID-19 has accelerated the use of telemedicine in all aspects of healthcare delivery, including initial surgical evaluation. No existing literature investigates the safety and efficacy of telemedicine to preoperatively evaluate spine surgery candidates. OBJECTIVES 1) Compare the change in VAS scores between the telemedicine preop and in-person preop groups. 2) Compare the average surgical time, estimated blood loss (EBL), length of hospital stay (LOS), rates of intraoperative complications, rates of readmission, and rates of reoperation between the telemedicine preop and in-person preop groups. METHODS The previously stated metrics were collected for 276 patients, 138 who were exclusively evaluated preoperatively with telemedicine and 138 historical controls who were evaluated preoperatively in person. Chi-square and independent samples t-test were used to determine significance. RESULTS There were no significant differences in the mean change in VAS scores (-2.7 +/- 3.1 telemedicine vs. -2.2 +/- 3.7 in-person, p=0.317), mean percentage change in VAS scores (-40.5% +/- 54.3% vs. -39.5% +/- 66.6%, p=0.811), mean surgical time (2.4 +/- 1.4 hrs vs. 2.3 +/- 1.3 hrs, p=0.527), mean EBL (150.4 +/- 173.3 cc vs. 156.7 +/- 255.0 cc, p=0.811), mean LOS (3.3 +/- 2.4 days vs. 3.3 +/- 2.5 days, p=0.954), intraoperative complication rates (0.7% vs. 1.4%, p=0.558), reoperation rates (7.9% vs. 4.3%, p=0.208), or readmission rates (10.1% vs. 5.1%, p=0.091) between the telemedicine preop and in-person preop groups. CONCLUSION Preoperative evaluation via telemedicine leads to the same short-term surgical outcomes as in-person evaluation with no increased risk of surgical complications.