[From reconstruction to function : Hands-on training in tympanoplasty using real-time feedback]

Surgery of the middle ear requires a very high level of fine motor skills. Due to the increased potential for complications in middle ear operations, it is appropriate to acquire these skills beforehand by operating on a model.

How satisfactory is the training on suitable models? Are the skills acquired from working on a model transferable to intraoperative situations? Will the type of model and its use for training influence ear surgery in the future?

Available publications and own experiences with the Dresden tympanoplasty model (DTM) are analyzed and discussed.

Although middle ear surgery makes very high demands on the surgeon and there is a significant risk for severe complications to the ear as a sense organ, there are currently very few options to train surgeons in advance. The DTM is a validated training model, which is capable of closing this gap. Due to the possibility of using a real-time feedback variation of the model, the understanding for reconstruction quality and intraoperative acoustic stress can be improved. The translation of the real-time feedback idea into actual middle ear surgery can improve reconstruction quality in the future.

Training on suitable models is indispensable, especially when training as a surgeon to carry out middle ear operations. Adding another sense perception to the internal and external quality assessment of tympanoplasty by inclusion of the real-time feedback option, can optimize learning and operating processes.