Traumatologia bucomaxilofacial em telessaúde : uma proposta metodológica

Abstract

Introduction: The earliest objective of Telemedicine was to assist in the delivery of health care to persons geographically remote from physicians or a medical center. However, with the recent advances in information technology Telemedicine gained a broader reach. The most important advance was the stablishment of mHealth. Mobile phones, particularly smartphones (sophisticated internet-accessible cellular phones) and other mobile computing devices (tablets), are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, which enhances the potential to assess and improve health. The recent proliferation of wireless and mobile technologies provided the opportunity to obtain and exchange information in a fast and efficient way. However these devices must be validated for Telemedicine use. Objective: to evaluate the level of agreement between three oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the diagnosis of midface fractures from photographs of occiptomental radiographs by three mobile devices: Camera, tablet and smartphone and to evaluate each one of the oral and maxillofacial surgeons among the three mobile devices. Methods: twenty occiptomental radiographs were selected and photographed in a lightbox by a digital câmera, a tablet and a smartphone. The sixty imagens were transfered to a notebook. Three oral and maxillofacial surgeons were asked for the presence and location of midface fractures. Results: There were no statistical diferences, in the level of 5%, among the three surgeons, for fracture identification and localization. There were no statistical diferences for each oral and maxillofacial surgeon among the three mobile devices for fracture identification and localization. Conclusion: Based upon the methods used in this study mobile devices can be used for diagnosis of midface fractures.