The Use of Surgical Simulators to Reduce Errors
Abstract
The training of a surgeon includes the acquisition of a number of characteristics. These include a cognitive knowledge base, problem formulation and decisionmaking abilities, appropriate psychosocial relationships, and other attributes that can be measured with objective testing, such as national board or specialty certifying examinations. Perhaps most critical to the surgeon, however, are the core technical skills of the profession. A battery of sophisticated devices is being created to teach and provide objective evaluations of the trainee s technical abilities. These innovative state-of-the-art simulation devices, used to teach basic skills and surgical tasks through repetitive proctored challenges, will enable detection and analysis of surgical errors and near miss incidents without risk to patients. As with flight simulation, near miss detection capabilities anticipate potential errors before they occur and prevent resulting complications. In collaboration with a number of otolaryngology residency programs, we have developed a comprehensive training curriculum, based on complementary simulation tools and several perceptual and spatial ability test instruments, to provide objective metrics for assessing the technical skills of trainees. These tools include an endoscopic sinus surgery simulator for procedural training, and the Minimally Invasive Surgical Trainer-Virtual Reality (MIST-VR) system for basic surgical skills training. Technical errors are identified, quantified, and used to monitor surgical performance, after which the metrics are used for outcome analysis, for the purpose of improving patient safety. Validated metrics include time-to-completion, errors, economy of motion, and psychomotor tracking. Endoscopic sinus surgery is a suitable operation substrate, since it is a frequently performed procedure (more than 300,000 times annually in the United States.) and carries a significant risk of injury to the delicate neighboring eye and brain structur7
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA434674
Entities
People
- Anthony Gallagher
- Clarence Sasaki
- Douglas Ross
- Hernando Cuellar
- Jose I. Uribe
- Marvin P. Fried
- Michael Zeltsan
- Mika Sinanan
- Richard Satava
- Suzanne Weghorst
Organizations
- United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality