Emergency Medicine Commons^™

The Use Of Mobile Phone Cameras In Guiding Treatment Decisions For Laceration Care, Neal Sikka, Michael Pirri, Katrina Norbury Carlin, Ryan Strauss, Faisal Rahimi, Jesse M. Pines

Emergency Medicine Faculty Publications

Objectives: Mobile phone technology may be useful in helping to guide medical decisions for lacerations. We examined whether emergency department (ED) provider opinions on which lacerations require repair differed using mobile phone–generated images compared with in-person evaluations.

Subjects and Methods: Patients presenting to an urban ED for initial and follow-up laceration care were prospectively enrolled. Patients took four mobile phone pictures of their laceration and provided a medical history. Cases were reviewed by ED providers who assessed image quality and made a recommendation about whether the laceration needed repair. The same provider then assessed the patient in-person. Concordant decision-making between …