You have accessJournal of UrologyTechnology & Instruments: Surgical Education & Skills Assessment/Ureteroscopy II1 Apr 20121514 LAPAROSCOPIC SURGICAL SKILLS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED BY THE USE OF A PORTABLE LAPAROSCOPIC SIMULATOR RESULTS OF A RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL Thomas Johnston, Jean Ker, Benjie Tang, and Ghulam Nabi Thomas JohnstonThomas Johnston Dundee, United Kingdom More articles by this author , Jean KerJean Ker Dundee, United Kingdom More articles by this author , Benjie TangBenjie Tang Dundee, United Kingdom More articles by this author , and Ghulam NabiGhulam Nabi Dundee, United Kingdom More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2012.02.1281AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES There is growing evidence that training on virtual reality simulators leads to an improved performance in the animate and human operating room. However, they are expensive, have a limited availability and involve complex systems. Portable simulators are significantly cheaper, more user-friendly, and are flexible systems which more suit a surgical trainee's busy schedule. The use of portable surgical simulators to train skills and reduce errors has never been evaluated in prospective, randomised clinical settings. The objective of this study was to determine if training on the portable Integrated Laparoscopic Simulator leads to an improved performance of core laparoscopic skills. METHODS Core laparoscopic skills were identified by five experienced laparoscopic surgeons and modelled into exercises. Twenty surgical naive medical students had baseline laparoscopic skills assessed on a fixed simulator. Participants were randomised to either 14 hours training on a portable laparoscopic simulator over a three week period, or control with no training. At 3 weeks two expert laparoscopic surgeons blinded to the allocation of participants assessed their pre and post intervention performances recorded on a CD-ROM using validated OSAT score sheet. The primary outcomes were outcome measures included time to complete and global rating scores of a clipping and dissection tasks. RESULTS No differences were observed in baseline skills level between the two groups. The intervention group had better quality of scissor dissection (p value 0.0038); improved clipping skills (p value 0.0051) and took less time to accomplish the tasks (p value 0.0099) in comparison to control (Table 1). Table 1 Post intervention laparoscopic skills and OSAT scores in both the groups Laparoscopic Skills Intervention group Mean (SD) Control group Mean (SD) Statistical significance P value (95% Confidence Interval) Scissors handling and dissection (OSATS score) 20.7(4.08) 11.70(7.12) 0.0038 (3.43-14.56) Time taken for dissection task (seconds) 116.90(52.02) 221.50(74.49) 0.0019 (−164.96 to-44.24) Cutting tasks(OSATS score) 20.80(3.49) 11.70(7.67) 0.0051 (14.90-−3.29) Time taken for cutting task (seconds) 54.9(14.27) 92.90(35.91) 0.0061 (−63.68 to-12.32) CONCLUSIONS Training on the portable Integrated Laparoscopic Simulator significantly improved core laparoscopic skills in medical students with no prior experience. © 2012 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 187Issue 4SApril 2012Page: e613 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2012 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Thomas Johnston Dundee, United Kingdom More articles by this author Jean Ker Dundee, United Kingdom More articles by this author Benjie Tang Dundee, United Kingdom More articles by this author Ghulam Nabi Dundee, United Kingdom More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...