Development and Validation of a Low-Cost Endoscopic Spine Surgery Simulator

Background Minimally invasive endoscopic techniques in spine surgery continue to gain in popularity. Unfortunately, there is a long learning period for novice endoscope users to acquire basic skills, and complex training simulators are frequently cost-prohibitive. This paper describes the development and validation of a low-cost endoscopic spine training simulator. Methodology A low-cost endoscopic spine training model was created utilizing a budget of less than 65 USD. Afterward, a training curriculum consisting of five tasks was designed to mimic standard techniques frequently utilized in endoscopic spine surgery. This curriculum was tested on a cohort of surgical trainees. The initial time to completion as well as errors made during the tasks and repeat trials were recorded. A composite score was generated to quantify the overall scores which included both time and errors in each task. Results In total, 11 students and surgical residents completed the curriculum. The first attempt required an average of 622 seconds for the completion of the curriculum compared to 283 seconds in the second trial (p < 0.001; SD = 36.75). In regards to trials in which errors were counted, fewer errors occurred during the second attempt (2.55 vs. 1.53); however, this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). In regards to the composite score, the composite score of the intern group demonstrated an average improvement of 0.345 compared to an average improvement of 0.47 in the resident group. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the feasibility of a low-cost endoscopic spine trainer as well as its efficacy in improving basic endoscopic skills in trainees.