Televisit with TytoHome TM device in medically complex child in long-term mechanical ventilation: a pilot study

Abstract Background During the pandemic, the pneumology physician team of Bambin Gesù Children’s Hospital pointed out that the use of telemedicine was a helpful modality to follow up on the medical needs in Children with medical complexity (CMC) patients at distance. After the telemedicine approach experienced during the emergency, a telemedicine service was set up and new tools were tested to optimize the televisit and the global eHealt approach of the patient. In this respect, TytoHome TM device was tested to carry out the objective examination remotely. The pilot study carried out in our hospital investigated the management of the CMC in long-term mechanical ventilation through telemedicine platform and the device built by TytoHome. Methods A total of 10 pediatric patients were treated for one year of study. The patients involved were already followed in our hospital, and underwent long-term mechanical ventilation (LTV) at home, 4 in Invasive Mechanical Ventilation (VMI), 6 in Non Invasive Ventilation (NIV). A database was developed for the collection of patient datas relating to personal data, vital parameters, objective examination, audio quality, patient satisfaction. A subsequent descriptive analysis has been carried out. Results The families were “satisfied” with the remote follow-up visits and the health-care personnel perceived as “good” the quality of the ongoing audio of visits. Conclusions In conclusion, several were the advantages brought from Tyto device to the remote management of these patients. In our experience, Tyto has proved to be a useful modality for the remote management of medically complex patients.