Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of creating and maintaining Orthopaedic oncology database using Filemaker Pro in the absence of centralised data collection system.
Materials and Method: We created our database using FileMaker Pro Advanced in 2014 with the ability to capture multitude of information such as patient profile, history, clinical diagnosis and photos, investigations including photo-captured version of plain radiograph, CT, MRI and bone scan, biopsy results, list of surgery done and the surgical photos, records of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and current follow-ups. It has built-in capability to calculate Mirel's score, Tomita's score, MSTS score, etc. The database was powered by a Mac laptop while iPhone and iPad version of FileMaker Go were used to record patients' data which has the capability to snap photos or insert images right within the app.
Results: Within a year, we successfully captured 70 patients' data, many with photos and follow-up. We also circumvented the problems of missing or untraceable records during follow-up as patients' information were easily accessible through the electronic database. Our aim of getting a snapshot of our work was successful as we had our local statistics regarding our patients and cases. Furthermore, we could present our data to our peers effortlessly through the contrived database.
Conclusion: Database creation and maintenance with FileMaker Pro is fairly straightforward which could be done with minimal computing background. This system can be adapted by other similar institutions to improve their patient database management
