Influence of minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery experience in minimally invasive robotic surgery dexterity

Abstract

Background: It is unclear if there is a natural transition from robotic to laparoscopic surgery with transfer of abilities. This study aims to measure the performance and learning of basic robotic tasks in a simulator of individuals with different surgical background. Method: Three groups were tested for robotic dexterity: (a) experts in laparoscopic surgery (n=6), (b) experts in open surgery (n=6), and (c) non-medical subjects (n=4). All individuals were aged between 40 -50 years. Five repetitions of 4 different simulated tasks were performed: spatial vision, bimanual coordination, hand-foot-eye coordination and motor skill. Results: Experts in laparoscopic surgery performed similar to non-medical individuals and better than experts in open surgery in 3 out of 4 tasks. All groups improved performance with repetition. Conclusions: Experts in laparoscopic surgery performed better than other groups but almost equally to non-medical individuals. Experts in open surgery had worst results. All groups improved performance with repetition.

Laparoscopic but not open surgical skills can be transferred to robot‐assisted surgery: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The search retrieved a total of 14,120 studies, with an additional 647 studies screened by cross‐referencing, of which 30 studies were included in qualitative synthesis and 26 13–42 in quantitative synthesis, respectively. Detailed information on the study selection process for quantitative and qualitative analysis is depicted in Supporting Information : Appendix A including the PRISMA Flowchart (Figure ).…”