A computer-supported management of photographic documentation in plastic surgery - System development and its clinical application

Photographic documentation is very important for plastic, reconstructive, and especially aesthetic surgery procedures. It can be used to improve patient care as well as to carry out scientific research. The results of our previous studies confirmed a strong demand for Information Technology (IT) systems dedicated to plastic surgery. Unfortunately, most of the solutions of this type are not suited to the actual needs. For this reason we decided to develop a reliable system for photographic documentation storage. The Plastic Reconstructive Esthetic Surgery Photo System (PRESsPhoto) was developed and finally deployed in the Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Clinic of the Medical University in Lodz (Poland). Preliminary single-center performance tests proved that the PRESsPhoto system is easy to use and provides, inter alia, rapid data search and data entry as well as data security. In the future the PRESsPhoto system should be able to cooperate with Hospital Information Systems (HIS). The process of development and deployment of the PRESsPhoto system is an example of good cooperation between health care providers and the informatics, which resulted in a system that meets the expectations of plastic surgeons.