[Follow-up of patients submitted to antireflux laparoscopic treatment. A study by a telephone questionnaire].
OBJECTIVE
As it is difficult to submit patients to instrumental follow-up after laparoscopic treatment of the gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), it is not easy to have a complete patients analysis after fundoplication. Telephone questionnaire can be a valid instrument to investigate clinical outcome and patients satisfaction to surgery.


METHODS
This study discusses the results acquired through a telephone questionnaire which has been administered to patients undergoing laparoscopic fundoplication to study postoperative clinical evolution of GERD and satisfaction to surgery through a numerical rating scale from 1 to 10.


RESULTS
Sixty three patients, who had a laparoscopic antireflux procedure at Department of General Surgery of the University of Udine (Italy), answered to telephone questionnaires. Fifty patients (74.9%) reported no symptoms. Patients satisfaction to surgery was 7.93 +/- 2.36. Fifty eight patients (92.1%) would have repeated the operation and 59 (93.6%) would have advised it to a friend suffering of GERD. A significant difference of patients satisfaction between preoperative typical and atypical symptoms has been found (8.43 +/- 2.04 vs. 6.95 +/- 2.71 p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Telephone questionnaire is comparable with face to face consultation, allowing to do a correct clinical follow-up, to exclude patients accusing pathological acid reflux after fundoplication; however preoperative symptoms are not so accurate as postoperative symptoms. Their presence giustifies a postoperative oesophageal pH metry.
Favero
Alessandro
A
Dipartimento di Scienze chirurgiche, Clinica di Chirurgia Generale, Università degli Studi di Udine.
Bresadola
Vittorio
V
Dado
Giuseppe
G
Piccoli
Erica
E
Bresadola
Fabrizio
F
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018662:Fundoplication / Q000379:methods*; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome