Remote vital signs monitoring in surgical patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An evaluation of remote, near-continuous vital signs monitoring in patients admitted to surgical wards
IRAS ID
204340
Contact name
David Jayne
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Background
Patients having surgery are at high risk of complications, some of which can be life threatening. Identifying complications early makes them easier to treat and improves the outcome for the patient.One of the ways patients are monitored for complications is by charting their vital signs: blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate and temperature. The nurse looking after the patient will usually check these signs every four hours in the days after surgery. They are used to form the National Early Warning Score (NEWS), which can alert if the patient becomes unwell. One of the problems with NEWS is that patients can deteriorate in the interval between monitoring, which can delay vital treatment.
The SensiumVitals® monitoring system measures heart rate, breathing rate and temperature continuously. It is a wearable, wireless patch that is applied to the patient's chest and alerts the nurse if the patient's vital signs become abnormal. This could help detect unwell patients earlier than NEWS monitoring.
Aim
To provide information about whether the patch works and if it improves outcomes for patients.Participants
Patients will be asked to join the study if they are admitted to one of four surgical wards. Many of these patients will be undergoing surgery.Methods
Patients will be randomly chosen to receive standard NEWS monitoring or both the SensiumVitals® patch and NEWS.Information about the patients’ hospital stay will be collected, including the number of patients who develop sepsis (infection) and how quickly they are treated, whether they are moved to high-dependency wards and how long they stay in hospital.
An important part of the study will be to assess how patients and nurses feel about the SensiumVitals® system, via interviews, questionnaires and focus groups.
Distribution of results
The results of this study will be communicated to healthcare professionals, patients and the public through journal articles, press releases and presentations to charities, NHS Trusts and the media.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0426
Date of REC Opinion
26 Oct 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion