Evaluation of Surgical Simulator for Practicing a Vascular Anastomosis

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Education, Medical

• Registration Number: NCT00318279
• Lead Sponsor: Lawson Health Research Institute

Brief Summary

To determine if practicing an aorto-saphenous vein anastomosis on a low-fidelity surgical simulator allows trainees to produce a higher quality anastomosis in a shorter period of time, than a group that only learns by watching a video.

Detailed Description

For many years, surgical training has been considered an apprenticeship, where the training experiences of residents, have been in real operative settings on living patients. We propose a study to demonstrate that - a low-fidelity simulation of an aorta-proximal vein graft anastomosis as in heart bypass surgery, using anatomical replicates (a special hydrogel polymer with properties similar to human vascular tissue) - is an effective, low-cost simulator for learning this surgical skill, and will provide the trainee with the ability to perform a better anastomosis in a shorter period of time.

Hypothesis: Practicing an aorto-saphenous vein anastomosis on a low-fidelity surgical simulator will advance the trainees' learning curve. This will allow trainees to produce a higher quality anastomosis in a shorter period of time, than a group that only learns by watching a video and will lead to enhanced patient safety.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2006-04-24
• Study First Submitted QC: 2006-04-24
• Study First Posted: 2006-04-26
• Study Start: 2006-05
• Primary Completion: 2007-05
• Study Completion: 2007-09
• Status Verified: 2018-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2018-11-02
• Last Update Posted: 2018-11-05

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 40

Inclusion Criteria

• 1st year surgical resident at The University of Western Ontario
• Anastomosis naive - the subject must not have performed a human vascular anastomosis in the past (it is acceptable if they have observed one being performed in the past)

Exclusion Criteria

• Completed a human vascular anastomosis as the primary operator/surgeon in the past

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Quality of final vascular anastomosis based on validated scale

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Time taken to complete final anastomosis
Global rating of operative skill based on validated scale (final anastomosis)
Anastomotic leakage for final anastomosis
Time taken to complete initial and final anastomosis (experimental group only)
Anastomotic patency for final anastomosis

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Kelman Advanced Centre for Learning, The University of Western Ontario; 🇨🇦 London, Ontario, Canada