Empathy drives innovation

HKEC Stoma and Wound Care Team
Hong Kong East Cluster

“If I were the patient, what kind of help would I hope to get from healthcare professionals?” Putting themselves into patients’ shoes and meeting patients’ urgent needs, it is this belief that motivates the Hong Kong East Cluster Stoma and Wound Care Team to innovate continuously. The Team is dedicated to managing post-operative wounds and was founded in the 1990s by the Department of Surgery at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. This led to the establishment of the Stoma and Wound Nurse Clinic, which constantly explores and pioneers new nursing technologies.

In 2009, the Team became the first in Hong Kong to adopt Woundoscopy – a technique that uses endoscopy to assess wounds – and utilise iPad to analyse the colour of wound fluids to allow for more precise care. The Team has also been a pioneer in Point-of-Care Ultrasound since 2018 for the examination of wounds, stomas, and gastrostomy tubes. Patients who undergo gastrostomy surgery rely on tubes for enteral feeding afterwards. Previously, around 20% of patients experienced tube dislodgement who required emergency hospitalisation. “We were the first in Hong Kong to use ultrasound to ensure the correct placement and alignment of the gastrostomy tube and to check the size of the balloon inside the stomach that secures the tube to prevent dislodgement,” the Team explains. After the implementation of the advanced nursing practice, the number of dislodgement cases in Surgical Department has dropped to zero and complications related to gastrostomy tubes have decreased significantly.

In one notable case, a female patient suffered from peristomal granuloma – unhealthy tissue growth around the peristomal skin – causing severe pain that kept her awake at night-time. The swollen granuloma was prone to bleeding, adding to her anxiety. Drawing on lessons from haemorrhoid ligation by surgeons, the Team developed an innovative technique to ligate the granuloma with surgical sutures, allowing it to gradually shrink and eventually disappear. “This technique is far from easy. We practised it repeatedly, and the procedure requires close collaboration among team members to be successfully carried out,” the Team explains.

“Achieving breakthroughs from zero to one requires far more time and effort than making incremental improvements from one to two.” The Team remains committed to continuing to advance wound care standards and is dedicated to passing on expertise and encouraging innovation by the emerging generation of young healthcare professionals.

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