Benefits of a Surgical Skills Lab Vascular Anastomosis Simulator: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's
- Enrollment
- 40
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Quality of final vascular anastomosis based on validated scale
Study Overview
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 Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Other
- Masking
- Double
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
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
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Quality of final vascular anastomosis based on validated scale
Secondary Outcomes
- Global rating of operative skill based on validated scale (final anastomosis)
- Anastomotic leakage for final anastomosis
- Time taken to complete final anastomosis
- Time taken to complete initial and final anastomosis (experimental group only)
- Anastomotic patency for final anastomosis