Learning curve of assistants in laparoscopic colorectal surgery: overcoming mirror imaging

Laparoscopic colorectal resection is widely used because of its safety and effectiveness compared with conventional surgery; however, surgical assistants find it difficult to perform this surgery in mirror image. This study aimed to evaluate assistants' learning curves in laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

The subjects were three fellows who began their surgical fellowship training at the Center for Colorectal Cancer of the National Cancer Center, Korea, during 2008. We analyzed the data from 145 laparoscopic colorectal surgeries in which these assistants participated. A learning curve was generated for each assistant using the moving average method to assess the execution time and the error rate for grasping tissue.

Assistants A, B, and C participated in 50, 45, and 50 laparoscopic colorectal surgeries, respectively. Learning curves indicated that the execution time reached a steady state after 38 cases for Assistant A, 29 cases for Assistant B, and 24 cases for Assistant C. Based on a decline in the error rate, the steady state was reached after approximately 44 cases for Assistant A, 32 cases for Assistant B, and 41 cases for Assistant C.

Analysis of the assistants' learning curves suggests that under reverse alignment conditions, assistants require participation in 30-40 cases before gaining surgical competence. These results have implications for training assistants for laparoscopic colorectal surgery.