The primary objective was observing transferability of minimally invasive surgical skills between virtual reality simulators
for laparoscopy and arthroscopy. Secondary objectives were to assess face validity and acceptability.
Design
Prospective single-blinded crossover randomized controlled trial.
Setting
MSk Laboratory, Imperial College London.
Participants
Student doctors naïve to simulation and minimally invasive techniques.
Methods
A total of 72 medical students were randomized into 4 groups (2 control groups and 2 training groups), and tested on haptic virtual reality simulators. Group 1 (control; n = 16) performed a partial laparoscopic cholecystectomy and Group 2 (control; n = 16) performed a diagnostic knee arthroscopy. Both groups then repeated the same task a week later. Group 3 (training; n = 20) completed a partial laparoscopic cholecystectomy, followed by an arthroscopic training program, and repeated the laparoscopic cholecystectomy a week later. Group 4 (training; n = 20) performed a diagnostic knee arthroscopy, followed by a laparoscopic training program, and then repeated the initial arthroscopic test a week later. The time taken, instrument path length, and speed were recorded for each participant and analyzed.
Results
Time taken for task: All 4 cohorts were significantly quicker on their second attempt but the 2 training groups outperformed the 2 control groups, with the laparoscopy-trained group improving the most (p < 0.05).
Economy of movement: All cohorts had a significant improvement in left hand path length (p < 0.01) but there was no difference for right hand path length.
Left hand speed: Only the 2 training groups showed significant improvement with the laparoscopy-trained group improving the most (p < 0.05).
Right hand speed: All cohorts improved significantly with the laparoscopy-trained group improving the most (p < 0.05).
Face validity and acceptability were established for both simulators.
Conclusion
This study showed that minimally invasive surgical skills learnt on a laparoscopy simulator are transferable to arthroscopy and vice versa, with greater effect after training on the laparoscopy simulator.
