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Resident performance in knee arthroscopy may improve with cadaveric skills labs, simulators
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Residents who trained with cadaveric skills labs and simulators experienced improved performance in knee arthroscopy compared with residents who did not, according to results presented at the American Orthopaedic Association Annual Meeting.
“Residents improve arthroscopic performance after training on both cadaveric specimens and high-fidelity virtual-reality simulators,” Christopher L. Camp, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Orthopedic Sports Medicine Center, told Healio.com/Orthopedics. “Although the rate of improvement is greater with cadaveric training, simulator training may be more cost-effective if the simulator is used enough.”
Christopher L. Camp
Camp and colleagues randomly assigned 45 orthopedic surgery residents to either a control group, cadaveric training or simulator training. Between pre- and post-test diagnostic knee arthroscopies, the cadaveric training group performed 4 hours of cadaveric practice and the simulator training group trained for 4 hours on a simulator, whereas the control group performed no arthroscopy.
Results showed a mean Arthroscopy Surgical Skill Evaluation Tool (ASSET) score improvement of –0.40 in the control group compared with 4.27 in the cadaveric training group and 1.92 in the simulator training group. The researchers also found a mean time improvement from pre- to post-test of 3 minutes and 1 second in the cadaveric training group and 28 seconds in the simulator training group vs. 7 seconds in the control group.
Performance in the cadaveric training group improved at a mean of 1.1 ASSET points per hour spent training vs. 0.5 ASSET points per hour of training in the simulator training group, according to study results.
“The primary benefit of this study is that it confirms that these training tools actually do improve resident performance, tells us how much improvement can be expected for each hour spent training and allows programs to understand the financial value of both cadaveric and simulator training,” Camp said. – by Casey Tingle
Reference:
Camp CL, et al. Poster #58. Presented at: American Orthopaedic Association Annual Meeting; June 24-27, 2015; Providence, R.I.
Disclosure: Camp reports no relevant financial disclosures.