Fresh human neck dissection specimens as vascular models for head and neck microsurgery training

Microsurgical techniques have advanced across various fields, requiring high precision, accuracy, and minimal invasiveness. While existing animal and cadaver models offer training opportunities for surgeons to practice surgeries, they struggle to accurately replicate real surgical scenarios.

This study developed microsurgery training models using discarded human neck dissection specimens, with latex perfusion for dissection models and synthetic blood for anastomosis models. Twenty-four head and neck tumor surgeons were divided into expert group (chief and associate chief, n = 10) and surgeon group (attending and resident, n = 14). All participants trained on both model types, and experts ( n = 10) additionally completed anastomosis on chicken wings. After completing vascular training, participants evaluated the models and chicken wings using questionnaires based on the MiSSES. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze group differences.

Anatomical specimens ( n = 12) contained segmental facial arteries and veins with intact submental arteries and perforators. Submental vessel diameters (artery: 1.75 ± 0.10 mm; vein: 1.56 ± 0.14 mm) are suitable for microsurgical training. Expert and surgeon evaluations showed no significant differences ( P :0.105-1.000 > 0.05). Both groups rated the models highly. Experts scored dissection models 4.70 ± 0.48/5.00 and surgeons 4.64 ± 0.50/5.00. For anastomosis models, experts scored 4.30 ± 0.48/5.00 and surgeons scored 4.57 ± 0.51/5.00. Experts scored specimen models significantly higher than chicken wings for improving skills, independent performance, environmental accuracy, and challenge simulation ( P :0.000-0.005 < 0.05).

This study developed fresh neck dissection specimen models as an alternative to traditional animal and cadaver training models, providing an economical, high-fidelity, and accessible training platform for head and neck microsurgery. These models can effectively enhance skills for both medical students and practicing surgeons.