Teaching ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia remotely: a feasibility study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anesthesiology
• Surgical Simulation

Background:

• Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia (UGRA) requires specialized skills that are challenging to teach due to time and mentor limitations.
• A novel Telesimulation platform, originally developed for laparoscopic surgery, was adapted for UGRA training.
• Investigating remote skill acquisition and assessment for UGRA is crucial for expanding access to training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if UGRA skills can be effectively developed and assessed remotely using the Telesimulation platform.
• To evaluate the efficacy of online, telesimulated training for UGRA compared to traditional methods.
• To assess the feasibility of remote UGRA training in a multi-hospital setting.

Main Methods:

• Anesthesia teams from four Ontario hospitals participated in a remote UGRA training program.
• Participants received four online sessions and one offline lecture on ultrasound-guided supraclavicular block.
• Skill acquisition was evaluated pre- and post-training using validated assessment tools by on-site and off-site raters.

Main Results:

• Nineteen staff anesthetists demonstrated significant improvement in UGRA skills post-training across both on-site and remote assessments (P < 0.001).
• High inter-rater reliability was observed between on-site and remote assessors for both the Checklist (ICC = 0.672) and Global Rating Scale (ICC = 0.847).
• The Telesimulation platform facilitated successful remote skill development and assessment in UGRA.

Conclusions:

• Remote UGRA training is a viable and effective method for skill acquisition.
• The Telesimulation platform shows promise for overcoming traditional barriers in medical education.
• Future research should compare remote training to on-site methods and explore its use in resource-limited settings.