[Low cost simulator for acquiring basic laparoscopic skills]

Abstract

Introduction: Laparoscopic surgery requires a different set of skills than conventional surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a low-cost simulator and camera for the acquisition of basic laparoscopic skills.

Material and methods: This randomised trial involved 48 subjects (32 students and 16 surgeons). Two exercises were used, object transfer and cutting. Students were divided into two groups (n=8). One group performed the exercises in the operating theatre with the conventional laparoscopic camera. The second group performed the exercises in a classroom with a low cost micro-camera. Both groups were evaluated before and after five training sessions. Two groups of students were used as controls (n=8), and were evaluated two times without training. The surgeons were divided in two groups (n=8), one was evaluated in the theatre and the other one in the classroom.

Results: The trained groups showed significant improvements in the first exercise (P <0.001) compared with non-trained groups. There were no differences in scores between the groups with different cameras. The surgeons had better scores than students (P <0.001).

Conclusions: The improvements in laparoscopic skills on this simulator with a low-cost camera were not significantly different from those gained using the simulator with the conventional laparoscopic camera. This simulator was able to differentiate between experienced and inexperienced subjects.