Low-cost suture simulator to gain basic surgical skills.

Abstract

To introduce a new low-cost simulation model for training basic surgical skills. The training model was made from a mixture of 20 g of acetic silicone with 11 g of maize starch. Validation consisted of serial training sessions, evaluating the mean pre- and post-training time and the mean final score according to the global rating scale. A decrease in the time required to perform the sutures was observed, comparing the average post and pre-training time of each training day, with a significant correlation between the order of training and the time for performing the simulation. The presented model proved to be capable of simulating the basic suture training skills. It is easy to make, has low cost, and can be easily reproduced in educational institutions.