Robotic skills can be aided by laparoscopic training.

Area of Science:

• Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Surgical Education
• Robotic Surgery

Background:

• General surgery shows the fastest growth in robotic surgical system use.
• Robotic surgery simulator training is not widespread due to high costs.
• The study investigates if robotic surgical skills can be developed from laparoscopic training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the effect of a robotic simulation curriculum on surgical skills.
• To assess if psychomotor skills from laparoscopic training transfer to robotic surgery.
• To evaluate the efficacy of Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) training for robotic skills acquisition.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-seven surgical trainees with limited robotic experience were randomized into three groups: no simulator, FLS box trainer, or robotic simulator.
• Baseline and post-training robotic surgical skills were assessed using intracorporeal knot tying and peg transfer tasks.
• Training involved four 1-hour sessions over several weeks in the assigned environment.

Main Results:

• FLS training significantly improved both knot tying and peg transfer scores compared to no training.
• FLS training yielded greater improvement in knot tying scores than robotic simulator training.
• No significant difference was observed between robotic simulator training and no training for peg transfer or knot tying.

Conclusions:

• Psychomotor skills acquired through laparoscopic training, particularly FLS, can partially transfer to robotic surgery.
• Laparoscopic simulators and the FLS curriculum may enhance robotic surgical skill acquisition, especially when robotic simulators are inaccessible.
• This approach offers a cost-effective alternative for developing foundational robotic surgical competencies.