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Validation of the Simulator for Testing and Rating Endovascular SkillS (STRESS)-machine in a setting of competence
P Berger1, M C M Willems, J A Van Der Vliet
1Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. p.berger@chir.umcn.nl
Aim:
Endovascular skills are an integral part of modern-day vascular surgery. The STRESS machine has been developed to test these skills in vascular surgeons. This study aims to define an optimal pass/fail cutoff value for the STRESS test score.
Methods:
The STRESS machine consists of a dry glass model of the abdominal aorta and its tributaries with various stenotic lesions, elongations, and tortuosities. A camera and computer software are used to simulate plain fluoroscopy-mode. The test subjects are given two assignments after which two reviewers use a combination of the ICEPS and MRS to produce the final total score; 43 subjects were tested. According to previous endovascular experience, subjects were classified into four groups: novice-low (no experience, less than 11 performed procedures, less than 50 assisted procedures), novice-high (11-25 performed procedures, more than 50 assisted procedures), intermediate (1-10 performed and >11-25 assisted procedures, 11-25 performed and >1-10 assisted procedures or 25-50 performed procedures) and advanced (more than 50 performed procedures).
Results:
Test-score and noted experience showed a correlation of 0.794. All intermediate and advanced test subjects scored more than 50 points compared to 4 out of 15 novices.
Conclusion:
We demonstrated that it is possible to determine an optimal cut-off value for competence testing with the STRESS machine.
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