Simulation in Upper and Lower Limb Trauma Skill Acquisition: A Review.

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Biomedical Engineering
• Trauma Management

Background:

• Effective surgical training for extremity exploration in limb trauma is crucial.
• Current training methods often rely on traditional approaches with limited simulation options.
• The development of synthetic or virtual task trainers offers a promising avenue for enhancing surgical skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize existing literature on full- and part-task trainers for surgical extremity exploration in limb trauma.
• To analyze the types, composition, development, and validation of available simulators.
• To identify gaps in research regarding simulator design and utility.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was conducted to identify relevant studies.
• Inclusion criteria focused on the development and/or validation of synthetic or virtual task trainers for limb trauma.
• Studies were evaluated for simulator derivation, usability, and clinical utility.

Main Results:

• 63 out of 638 identified citations met the inclusion criteria.
• Simulators were designed for various limb structures: skin (15), tendon (7), nerve (1), fascia (1), muscle (1), vascular (24), and bone (11).
• Reporting on material fidelity, learning outcomes, cost, reusability, validity, and effectiveness was inconsistent across studies.

Conclusions:

• There is a need for standardized design principles for synthetic and virtual simulators in limb trauma management.
• Further research is required to establish best practices for simulator development and validation.
• Consistent reporting of simulator characteristics and outcomes is essential for advancing surgical training in this field.