Microsurgical skill acquisition in a one-day introductory course with performance evaluation using software-assisted...

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery Training
• Microsurgical Skill Assessment
• Surgical Education Technology

Background:

• Growing need for objective assessment in early plastic surgery training.
• Lack of validated, objective measures for microsurgical spacing and alignment.
• Introduction of a novel software analysis scoring system to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a novel software system for objective microsurgical skill assessment.
• To measure improvements in spacing, alignment, and overall performance in a 1-day course.
• To provide a reliable and consistent tool for surgical trainees.

Main Methods:

• Images of sutured latex strips from the Microtrainer system were analyzed using calibrated online software.
• Sutures were quantitatively assessed for spacing, alignment, and density.
• A total score was calculated at the beginning (Score 1) and end (Score 2) of a 1-day course.

Main Results:

• Analysis included 38 microsurgical anastomoses from 19 participants (postgraduate years 1-7), most with no prior microsurgery experience.
• Mean Score 1 was -2, significantly improving to a mean Score 2 of 22 (p < 0.0001).
• Demonstrated significant improvement in candidate ability over the course of the day.

Conclusions:

• The Microtrainer system software offers a novel, reliable, and consistent objective assessment for surgical trainees.
• This method provides patient-risk-free evaluation and can efficiently demonstrate progress within a 1-day setting.
• While initial setup has costs, the system is timely and repeatable for skill development.