Description and implementation of an ex vivo simulator kit for developing microsurgery skills

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Microsurgery
• Plastic Surgery Training

Background:

• Microsurgical training is crucial for plastic surgery residents.
• Standardized and safe training methods are essential.
• A novel microsurgical skills training set was developed for cost-effective, safe, and reproducible skill acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel microsurgical skills training set for its efficacy in teaching and perfecting microsurgical skills.
• To assess the cost-effectiveness and reproducibility of the training system.
• To compare the simulator-based training with traditional animal-based laboratories.

Main Methods:

• The training set included simulated blood vessels (2- and 3-mm polyvinyl tubes) and a dye for patency testing.
• Trainees underwent at least three training sessions over a 2-year period.
• Qualitative and quantitative performance metrics were collected.

Main Results:

• Resident performance improved with each training exposure.
• Performance scores and completion times significantly correlated with the number of actual microsurgical cases performed (P < 0.05).
• Trainees responded positively to the training system in post-training interviews.

Conclusions:

• The microsurgical skills training set provides a cost-effective method for introducing trainees to microsurgery.
• Performance on the simulator positively correlates with real-world microsurgical experience.
• This system is a valuable, safe alternative to animal-based training and can serve as a metric for competence assessment.