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Assessment of Surgical Competences for Neck Dissection and Total Laryngectomy on Revascularized Cadaver Models:
Anne Rullière1, Jérôme Danion2,3, Xavier Dufour1
1Service ORL et Chirurgie Cervico-Faciale, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.
Background:
In surgical simulation, evaluation tools are necessary to allow the overall and specific level of each gesture to be assessed for learners, to allow active feedback and follow-up. The aim of this study was to create and validate a scale for the assessment of competences for neck dissection (ND) and total laryngectomy (TL) in head and neck surgical oncology simulation specific for revascularized cadavers' models.
Methods:
Two independent scales were created for ND and TL based on a two-round Delphi method. The scales were used during ND and TL simulation sessions on SimLife® (Symedis, Poitiers, France) model. Surgical steps were scored by 2 independent observers. To assess its ease of use, a questionnaire was answered by senior surgeons (SS) at the end of the sessions.
Results:
Fifteen items were included in the final version for ND scale and 20 for TL scale. The results of 14 lateral ND and 8 TL were included. The mean score was higher for SS (69 ± 6.4; 87.5 ± 8.5) than for residents (36.5 ± 11; 57.5 ± 13.2) for ND (P = 0.0006) and TL (P = 0.028) respectively. Six SS strongly agreed that this tool had a positive impact on resident training with stepwise feedback and accurately represented their competences.
Conclusion:
We developed a pedagogic tool built to assess surgical competence for head and neck surgical oncology on revascularized cadaver models. This tool has a good construct validity thanks to the expert reviewing with Delphi method and appears to have fine acceptability by the SS.
