Development and validation of mental practice as a training strategy for laparoscopic surgery

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Growing patient safety concerns necessitate alternative surgical training methods beyond the operating room.
• Mental practice (MP), involving mental rehearsal of tasks, is a proven technique for skill enhancement in sports and music.
• This study focuses on developing and validating a novel MP training strategy specifically for laparoscopic surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a structured mental practice (MP) training protocol for laparoscopic surgery.
• To validate the efficacy of the developed MP strategy in improving surgeons' mental rehearsal abilities.
• To assess the impact of MP training on surgeons' visualization and confidence in performing laparoscopic procedures.

Main Methods:

• A cognitive 'walk through' of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) identified key procedural cues.
• A mental practice (MP) training protocol, including an 'MP script,' was developed to enhance mental imagery of LC.
• A validated questionnaire assessed mental rehearsal ability before and after MP training in 20 surgeons (10 experienced, 10 novice).

Main Results:

• The questionnaire demonstrated high reliability (Cronbach's alpha > 0.87) and construct validity.
• Experienced surgeons consistently scored higher than novices, supporting the questionnaire's validity.
• Both experienced and novice surgeons showed significant improvements in global imagery scores after MP training (p < 0.007).

Conclusions:

• This study presents the first validated MP training approach for laparoscopic surgery.
• Mental practice offers a potentially time- and cost-effective method to enhance surgeons' ability to visualize and perform LCs.
• MP training may increase surgeons' knowledge and confidence, contributing to improved patient safety.