Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2026
Emergency Undocking in Robotic Surgery: A Simulation Curriculum
Published on: May 20, 2018
Improving operative performance using a laparoscopic hernia simulator
E C Hamilton1, D J Scott, A Kapoor
1Southwestern Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-9092, USA.
Background:
Traditionally, the acquisition of surgical skill has occurred entirely in the operating room. To meet the expanding challenges of cost containment and patient safety, novel methods of surgical training utilizing ex-vivo workstations are being developed. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the impact of a laparoscopic training curriculum on surgical residents' operative performance.
Methods:
Twenty-one surgery residents completed baseline laparoscopic total extraperitoneal (TEP) hernia repairs. Operative performance was evaluated using a validated global assessment tool. Each resident was then randomized to a control group or a trained group. A CD ROM, video, and simulator were used for training. At the end of the study, each resident's operative performance was again evaluated.
Results:
Improvement was significantly greater in the trained group in five of the eight individual global assessment areas as well as the composite score (P <0.05). Questionnaire data suggested that training resulted in improved understanding of the TEP hernia repair (P = 0.01) and an increased willingness to offer the operation to patients with nonrecurrent unilateral hernias (P = 0.02).
Conclusions:
A multimodality laparoscopic TEP hernia curriculum improves residents' knowledge of the TEP hernia repair and comfort in performing the procedure, and may also improve actual operative performance.
