The role and place of telemedical technologies in surgical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Literature review

Aim: To determine the current aspects in use of the telemedical technologies (TT) in surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic, to consider the availability of innovative devices for remote interaction of the systems doctor-patient, doctor-doctor, compare the effectiveness of using the usual approach in the treatment of a surgical patient with modern remote techniques using TT.Materials and methods: An analysis was carried out of various domestic and foreign medical literary sources that have information and data from their own and third-party research on modern aspects in the use of TT in surgical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.Results: After an analysis medical literature sources, it was found that at all three stages of the management of a modern surgical patient during the COVID-19 pandemic, innovative TT allow to achieve satisfying results in most cases of use. Moreover, at some specific stages, the use of online systems helps to achieve a better result than the usual “face-to-face” interaction between doctor/patiet. The main disadvantages of telemedicine relate to the problem of technical problems and the inability to achieve a stable online connection.Conclusion: Based on the above, it was concluded that TT in the surgeon-practice during the COVID-19 pandemic play an important role, allowing to achieve optimal results in some stages of patient management. Given the insignificant percentage of ineffective use, it is safe to say that TT have already established as the "golden standard" of surgical patient management in modern epidemiological conditions.