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Surgical training with virtual reality yielded better results vs standard surgical guide
Medical students who underwent surgical training with a virtual reality program performed better in a simulated procedure compared to medical students trained with a standard surgical guide, according to results presented at the Western Orthopaedic Association Annual Meeting.
Gideon W. Blumstein, MD, MS, co-author of the study and orthopedic surgery resident at University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues randomly assigned 20 first- and second-year medical students to learn a tibial intramedullary nailing procedure through either a virtual reality simulated education tool or a standard surgical guide. Researchers used a global assessment tool and checklist to assess the students immediately and 2 weeks after the educational training.
Students who trained with the virtual reality simulator had significantly improved global assessment scores, Blumstein told Healio.com/Orthopedics. He noted students in the virtual reality group performed more of the surgical steps correctly compared with students who received training on the standard training guide. However, when students returned for re-assessment 2 weeks after the initial educational training, Blumstein noted both groups showed improvement.
“I think that is a product that they had done it before, so they are going to do better the next time around, but the ... percentage of improvement was significantly higher for the virtual reality group than it was for the standard training guide,” Blumstein said. – by Casey Tingle
Reference:
Blumstein G, et al. Tibial IMN: Virtual reality vs. standard surgical guide randomized study. Presented at: Western Orthopaedic Association Annual Meeting; July 31-Aug. 3, 2019; Monterey, California.
Disclosure: Blumstein reports no relevant financial disclosures.