Telemonitoring Wound Recovery with Smartphone: An Italian Experience during Pandemic Period.

An important problem of plastic surgeons is monitoring wound healing, loss of substance, and postsurgical scar in different pathologies of the skin. Face to face monitoring is expensive and cannot be performed in periods of social crisis such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The use of telemedicine techniques is rising in this field of healthcare, promising the same results as the standard follow-up with more flexibility and savings. The purpose of this case study was to evaluate the effectiveness of remote monitoring and treatment through remote follow-up using digital applications. We followed up 25 patients with postoperative or diabetic ulcers for a period of 6 months (ranging from 2 to 6 months). We have performed clinical assessments using the Scar Cosmesis Assessment and Rating scale, and we have measured patient satisfaction using questionnaires. We chose to use the application for smartphone, describing the types of ulcers, number and average consultations, and the type of recovery, whether partial or complete. Monitoring wound recovery was very easy, and the patients found the experience very satisfactory. The total number of consultations was 255 with a significant reduction in outpatient visits during the pandemic period. Telemedicine is a useful tool in wound management and can be used to provide an optimal health care service with no inferior results to standard care.

Adverse Events Following COVID-19 Vaccine in Patients Previously Injected with Facial Filler: Scoping Review and Case Report

The “Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee 17 December 2020 Meeting Briefing Document”, formulated by the FDA, reported three cases of swelling in areas previously injected with HA filler, introducing the possible relationship between a COVID-19 vaccine and adverse events in areas previously injected with HA fillers. The aim of this research is to report a case of an adverse event following a COVID-19 vaccine in a patient previously injected with facial filler. Furthermore, a scoping review on the same topic was performed. The research was carried out on the electronic databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Scopus. The selection process identified four articles as eligible for inclusion in the review. Nineteen patients, including the described case report, who experienced an adverse event following a COVID-19 vaccine in areas previously injected with facial filler were identified. Adverse events following a COVID-19 vaccine in patients previously injected with facial filler appear to be rare. A high BDDE cross-linking rate and/or a low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid filler may have a higher tardive adverse event rate when triggered.