Can Virtual Reality Be as Good as Operating Room Training? Experience From a Residency Program in General Surgery

Abstract

Background: The increasingly intense usage of technology applied to videosurgery and the advent of robotic platforms accelerated the use of virtual models in training surgical skills. Aim: To evaluate the performance of a general surgery department’s residents in a video-simulated laparoscopic cholecystectomy in order to understand whether training with virtual reality is sufficient to provide the skills that are normally acquired in hands-on experience at the operating room. Methods:An observational study with twenty-five first- and second-year general surgery residents. Each subject performed three video-laparoscopic cholecystectomies under supervision in a simulator. Only the best performance was evaluated in the study. Total number of complications and total procedure time were evaluated independently. The groups were defined according to total practice time (G1 and G2) and the year of residency (R1 and R2), each being analysed separately. Results: Twenty-one residents finished the three practices, with four follow-up losses. Mean practice time was 33.5 hours. Lowering of the rate of lesions in important structures could be identified after a level of proficiency of 60%, which all participants obtained regardless of previous in vivo experience. No significant difference between the R1 and R2 groups was observed. Conclusion: Learning in groups R1 and R2 was equal, regardless of whether previous practice was predominantly in vivo (R2) or with virtual reality (R1). Therefore, it is possible to consider that skills obtained in virtual reality training are capable of equalising the proficiency of first- and second-year residents, being invaluable to increase patient safety and homogenise learning of basic surgical procedures.

COVID-19 Restrictions Presented Opportunities and Challenges for Plastic Surgery Residents

“…14 Increasing access to simulated models (eg, high-fidelity microsurgery models, virtual reality training, web-based task trainers, etc) or high-quality surgical skills videos based on cognitive task analysis principles 29,30 could help with increasing operative or clinical exposure and provide opportunities for assessment and feedback in the future. 31,32 Additionally, it is important for surgeon educators to be mindful that residents may be redeployed or their schedule may be drastically changed as a result of changing policies on their clinical responsibilities. As such, having access to these models after hours, or during times that are more conducive to a resident's schedule, should be emphasized.…”

Use of virtual reality simulation in surgical training: a systematic review on predictive validity and current use in surgical curricula

“…Training on simulator-based surgical cases has been demonstrated to improve subsequent scoring on assessment using these models, indicating that simulated training allows development and retention of skills in the simulated environment. [46][47][48] Predictive validity of simulation-based training is an integral aspect of the benefits of simulated-based learning; ensuring the training time put into simulation-based modules will result in improved proficiency in the operating room is key to the training method being an effective alternative to real patients, cadaver models, and animal tissue. Assessment of proficiency in the studies included in this review focused on the transferability of skills obtained in the virtual world to the real one.…”