Skip the clinic: could a smartphone survey replace your post-surgery eye check?
NCT ID NCT04235803
First seen Jul 24, 2026 · Last updated Jul 24, 2026
Summary
This trial tests whether a telemedicine follow-up — a simple online survey with photos and a vision check — can safely replace the first in-person visit after low-risk eyelid procedures like droopy eyelid repair or skin cancer removal. Adults undergoing these surgeries will either have a standard clinic visit or complete a remote form using their own device. The goal is to see if telemedicine cuts down on patient burden while keeping satisfaction and safety high.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- telemedicine follow-up via a remote survey (REDCap) that collects history, photographs, and vision measurement
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could allow patients to skip an in-person post-op visit after low-risk eyelid surgery, saving time and travel.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, single-center trial. Telemedicine may miss complications that an in-person exam would catch, and results may not apply to higher-risk procedures.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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78 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Sep 2020
- Finished
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Jul 2021
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Are age 18 years or older * Are fluent in English * Own or have ready access to a smart phone, tablet, or personal computer with high speed internet * Participate in an informed consent process with the surgeon(s) including documentation of written informed consent * Are undergoing a low-risk\* eyelid procedure in a clinic, ambulatory surgery center, or hospital operating room setting, including but not limited to: * upper eyelid blepharoplasty repair * ectropion repair * entropion repair * external levator resection * internal levator resection * eyelid lesion removal and/or biopsy * eyelid reconstruction and defect repair including after Mohs' surgery * eyelid tightening procedures for Floppy Eyelid Syndrome * tarsorrhaphy * dacryocystorhinostomy (\*)These listed procedures have a low reported rate of serious complications including vision loss, infection, severe bleeding, or death; however, surgical risk is ultimately determined by the surgeon on a per-patient basis, except in those cases specifically excluded in the subsequent section. Exclusion Criteria: * Are under the age of 18 years * Are incarcerated * Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during the period of surgery and 3 month recovery (however these patients are not eligible for elective eyelid surgery) * Are not fluent in English * Do not have access to or do not feel comfortable using a smart phone, tablet, or personal computer * Lack personal capacity for consent (i.e. those patients requiring consent for the surgery by a legal representative are excluded) * Experience a serious intra-operative complication (this criterion is assessed after initial consent) * Are undergoing eyelid or other oculoplastic procedures that are deemed greater than low-risk for serious complications, including but not limited to: * orbital surgery * lower eyelid blepharoplasty * repair of extensive eyelid defects following Mohs' surgery (roughly \>33%) * procedures requiring skin grafting * procedures requiring extensive tissue rearrangement * procedures involving an implant (e.g. frontalis sling, gold weight implantation; except dacryocystorhinostomy due to the low-risk nature of the lacrimal stent) * procedures requiring in-person care at the first post-operative week (e.g. suture removal, bolster removal, patch removal) Notably, patients undergoing greater than low risk procedures listed here are absolutely excluded from this trial. Surgeon assessment of individual patient surgical risk only applies to those typically low-risk procedures listed in the previous section on inclusion criteria; reasons for escalation of risk level include patient characteristics (e.g. frailty, previous infection or wound dehiscence), re-operation/revision status, or other factors.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California, 94143, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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