Simplified Summative Temporal Bone Dissection Scale Demonstrates Equivalence to Existing Measures.

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Surgical Education
• Medical Device Development

Background:

• Patient safety necessitates robust assessment of fundamental surgical skills.
• Existing temporal bone rating scales are often cumbersome and inconsistent.
• A novel binary assessment tool was developed to overcome these limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and validate a new binary assessment tool for temporal bone surgery.
• To compare the novel CanadaWest scale with the established Welling scale.
• To evaluate the reliability and effectiveness of the CanadaWest scale in assessing resident surgical performance.

Main Methods:

• Residents performed a mastoidectomy with posterior tympanotomy on 3D-printed temporal bone models.
• Four neurotologists assessed specimens using the Welling scale and the new CanadaWest scale.
• Scoring was repeated after a 4-week interval to assess reliability.

Main Results:

• The CanadaWest scale demonstrated strong intrarater (0.711) and interrater (0.858) reliability.
• Significant performance differences were found between junior-intermediate and junior-senior resident cohorts.
• Both scales distinguished junior from senior trainees but struggled to differentiate intermediate from senior performance.

Conclusions:

• The CanadaWest scale is a facile tool for assessing surgical skills in temporal bone procedures.
• It effectively differentiates performance based on resident experience level.
• The scale shows comparable reliability to the Welling scale, offering a promising alternative for quality assessment.