Moderate procedural confidence improvement following hands-on practice using the hemispherectomy simulator

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Surgical Education
• Medical Simulation

Background:

• Pediatric hemispherectomy is a high-risk, complex neurosurgical procedure.
• Limited traditional training opportunities exist for neurosurgical trainees to master this surgery.
• Surgeon confidence is crucial for intraoperative performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a novel hemispherectomy simulator on neurosurgical trainees' procedural confidence.
• To assess simulation as a tool to augment pre-operative surgical practice.

Main Methods:

• Eleven neurosurgery residents and fellows utilized a hemispherectomy simulator.
• Procedural confidence was measured using a validated questionnaire (Cronbach's α = 0.93) pre- and post-simulation.
• Matched pair t-testing analyzed changes in confidence scores.

Main Results:

• All participants reported increased procedural confidence post-simulation (p < 0.001).
• Overall mean confidence increased by 7.2 points.
• Fellows demonstrated higher baseline confidence than residents, with a positive correlation between confidence and postgraduate year (r = 0.57).

Conclusions:

• Hemispherectomy simulation moderately enhances neurosurgical trainees' perceived procedural confidence.
• Simulation offers a valuable adjunct to traditional training for complex procedures.
• This approach may improve surgical preparedness and potentially patient safety.