Remote Monitoring of Pain and Recovery Quality in the Immediate Postoperative Period Using a Digital Health ToolNCT07794267
Remote Assessment of Pain and Recovery Quality After Surgery Using a Digital Form: A Pilot Study
An observational study of Remote Monitoring of Pain and Recovery Quality in the Immediate Postoperative Period Using a Digital Health Tool and Pain, Postoperative, run by Hospital de Base at 1 site in Brazil.
Trial summary
After surgery, doctors need to know how patients are doing, especially in the first hours after they leave the recovery room. This can be hard to track once patients go to a regular hospital room, and some symptoms - like pain or nausea - may go unnoticed. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Remote Monitoring of Pain and Recovery Quality in the Immediate Postoperative Period Using a Digital Health Tool, Pain, Postoperative, Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting
- What is being tested?
- Digital web-based postoperative follow-up form
- How many people
- 213 participants
- Where
- 1 siteBrazil
- Study dates
- 1 Oct 2026to 30 Sep 2027
- Phase
- Observational
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Study population: Adult patients undergoing elective surgery not intended for postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) admission, consecutively enrolled at a single tertiary public hospital in the Federal District, Brazil. Patients are approached during the pre-anesthetic evaluation and, if eligible and willing to participate, are followed remotely via a digital form during the first 24 hours after discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU).
Who may be able to join
- Age ≥ 18 years
- Undergoing elective surgery with anticipated discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) to the ward
- Access to a smartphone with internet connection (personally, or through an accompanying caregiver)
- Cognitive capacity to respond to the digital form, or availability of a caregiver to respond on the patient's behalf
- Signed Informed Consent Form
Who cannot join
- Anticipated postoperative admission to the intensive care unit (ICU)
- Inability to communicate, with no caregiver available to assist
- Refusal to participate or to use the digital tool
- No access to a mobile device/internet during the first 24 postoperative hours, with no logistical alternative available
- Clinical condition that, at the discretion of the assisting team, contraindicates participation
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Brazil1 site
Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal (Instituto de Gestão Estratégica de Saúde do Distrito Federal - IGESDF)
Brasília, Federal District, 70.335-902
Nadja Glória C Graça, MD, 556133151588, seamp.hb@igesdf.org.br
About this study
After surgery, doctors need to know how patients are doing, especially in the first hours after they leave the recovery room. This can be hard to track once patients go to a regular hospital room, and some symptoms - like pain or nausea - may go unnoticed.
This study tests whether an online form, sent to patients' phones, can help doctors check on pain and recovery in the first 12 and 24 hours after surgery. Patients (or a family member helping them) will receive a link by WhatsApp and answer a short set of questions about their pain, nausea, medications, and how they are recovering.
The main goal is to find out whether patients are willing and able to use this online form, and whether it is a helpful and practical way to follow up with them after surgery.
Read the detailed description
Postoperative recovery is a dynamic process requiring continuous monitoring. After discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), patients are typically assessed only through periodic in-person visits by the ward staff, which can create gaps in surveillance and lead to underreporting of pain, nausea, and other symptoms during the immediate postoperative period. Digital tools have been proposed as a way to narrow this gap by allowing patients to report symptoms directly and continuously, potentially enabling earlier identification of complications and more timely clinical response.
Despite promising results from international studies on postoperative digital monitoring, reviews have identified important gaps, including methodological heterogeneity, a lack of standardized and validated instruments, and limited integration with clinical teams. There is a particular scarcity of studies evaluating simple, accessible digital tools for the immediate postoperative period in Brazilian public hospitals.
This pilot study was designed to address that gap by testing a simplified, purpose-built digital form for remote postoperative follow-up. During the pre-anesthetic evaluation, patients (or an accompanying caregiver, when needed) are given a link, sent via WhatsApp, to a web-responsive online questionnaire designed for ease of use among postoperative patients. The form includes 18 questions covering pain at rest and during movement, nausea and vomiting, use of rescue analgesics and antiemetics, need for anesthesiology team intervention, functional recovery (ability to urinate and defecate), and overall satisfaction with the recovery process and with the questionnaire itself. Patients are asked to complete the form at two time points: 12 and 24 hours after PACU discharge.
The study's central hypothesis is that a simplified digital form is a feasible and well-accepted tool for remote postoperative monitoring, and that it can capture clinically meaningful data on pain, adverse effects, and perceived recovery. Findings from this pilot are intended to inform the future development of digital follow-up protocols - including potential integration with electronic medical records - for postoperative care in Brazilian public hospital settings, and to identify barriers to more equitable implementation of remote monitoring tools.
- Conditions
- Remote Monitoring of Pain and Recovery Quality in the Immediate Postoperative Period Using a Digital Health Tool, Pain, Postoperative, Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting, Recovery of Function (G11.427.698.620)
- Being tested
- Digital web-based postoperative follow-up form
- Keywords
- Postoperative Pain Postoperative Recovery, Remote Patient Monitoring, Digital Health, Telemonitoring, Post-Anesthesia Care, Patient-Reported Outcomes, Feasibility Study
- Medical subject headings
- Pain, Postoperative, Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Digital web-based postoperative follow-up formOther
A responsive, 18-item online questionnaire, accessed via a WhatsApp link, used to remotely collect patient-reported data on pain, nausea/vomiting, medication use, functional recovery, and satisfaction at 12 and 24 hours after PACU discharge. This is a data-collection tool and does not constitute a clinical/therapeutic intervention.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Postoperative Patients (Digital Form Cohort) | Adult patients (≥18 years) undergoing elective, non-ICU-bound surgery at a tertiary public hospital, who completed a digital web-based form to report pain, nausea/vomiting, medication use, functional recovery, and satisfaction at 12 and 24 hours after PACU discharge. Receives: Other: Digital web-based postoperative follow-up form |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Adherence Rate to the Digital Follow-up Form
Proportion of enrolled patients who fully completed the digital questionnaire, calculated separately at 12 and 24 hours after discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU).
Measured: At 12 hours and at 24 hours after PACU discharge
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted31 Aug 2026
- Study start1 Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion30 Sep 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Sep 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Remote Monitoring of Pain and Recovery Quality in the Immediate Postoperative Period Using a Digital Health ToolStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 213 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Hospital de Base
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Fabricio Tavares Mendonca, Hospital de Base
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07794267
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- CAAE 97978426.1.0000.8153
- Status last verified
- Aug 2026
- First submitted
- 26 Aug 2026
- Last updated
- 31 Aug 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Undecided: A decision regarding individual participant data sharing has not yet been made. Data are currently stored on a secure digital platform with restricted access limited to the research team, in accordance with the approved research protocol. Any future data-sharing plan will comply with applicable Brazilian data protection and research ethics regulations (Law No. 14,874/2024; CNS Resolution No. 466/2012) and will be submitted for review by the Research Ethics Committee (CEP/IGESDF) before implementation.
Publications
Semple JL, Sharpe S, Murnaghan ML, Theodoropoulos J, Metcalfe KA. Using a mobile app for monitoring post-operative quality of recovery of patients at home: a feasibility study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2015 Feb 12;3(1):e18. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.3929.
PubMed 25679749