Development of a Model for Video-Assisted Postoperative Team Debriefing

Video-assisted debriefing may be a powerful tool to improve surgical team performance. Nevertheless, a true operating team debriefing culture is lacking to date. This study aimed to find evidence on how to debrief the surgical team and develop a model suitable for debriefing using a video and medical data recorder (MDR) in the operating room (OR).

A review of the PubMed and Embase databases and Cochrane Library was performed. The identified literature was studied and combined with a conceptual framework to develop a model for postoperative video-assisted team debriefing. Thirty-five surgical cases were recorded with an MDR and debriefed with the operating team using the proposed debrief model and a standardized video-assisted performance report. A questionnaire was used to assess the participants' satisfaction with this debrief model.

Debrief models and methods are extensively described in the current medical literature. An overview was provided. The OR team needs a structured debrief model, minimizing resource, effort, and motivational constraints. A structured six-step team debrief model suitable for video-assisted OR team debriefing was developed. The model was tested in 35 multidisciplinary MDR-assisted debriefing sessions and the debriefing sessions were overall rated with a mean of 7.8 (standard deviation 1.4, 10-point Likert scale) by participants.

Debriefing surgical teams using a video and MDR in the OR requires a model on how to use such recordings optimally. To date, no such model existed. The proposed debrief model was tested using a multisource MDR and may be used to facilitate OR debriefing across various settings.