Advancing orthopaedic trauma care through WhatsApp: An analysis of clinical and non-clinical applications, challenges, and future directions

Table 3 Clinical and non-clinical applications of WhatsApp

Category	Clinical applications	Non-clinical applications
Communication & triage	Effective and safe for emergency surgery team communication. Facilitates swift consultations during off-hours	Enhances interdepartmental communication in educational settings. Improves handover procedures in orthopaedic teaching centres
Consultation & diagnosis	Allows remote consultations for simple fractures and dislocations. Enables remote sharing of radiographs and clinical information for diagnosis	Supports teleradiology for remote viewing and analysis of radiological images. Virtual fracture clinics reduce in-person consultations
Patient care	Teleconsultation for rehabilitation showing high patient satisfaction. Patient advice through easy access to medical material - monitoring of post-op patients	Virtual supervision and co-management of traumatic fractures. Online surveys and screening for public health initiatives
Education & training	Use in medical literature for patient involvement through video consulting. Facilitates remote assessments with mobile imaging technologies	Utilized for research collaboration and methodology discussions in orthopaedic surgery. Enables efficient teaching and training through real-time communication
Operational efficiency	Streamlines decision-making on patient admission or discharge. Virtual multi-disciplinary tumour boards for collaborative patient care	Conducts efficient data collection for research and public health surveillance. Minimizes unnecessary hospital visits and reduces healthcare costs