Resident Physician University of Texas - Health Sciences Center at Houston Houston, Texas
Objective: Endoscopic sinus surgery presents significant visuospatial challenges to surgical trainees. We sought to test the utility of novel 3D printed models to simulate sinus surgery “moves” to improve endoscopic skillsets in resident trainees as an adjunct to traditional residency education.
Methods: This is a prospective quality improvement study of 10 ENT residents (PGY1-5). Participants rotated through 4 stations with different 3D simulation training modules designed to enhance endoscopic skillsets in the axial, sagittal and coronal planes (e.g. straight forceps to grasp a bead from a ledge, angled instruments to cannulate openings). Participants completed a self-assessment survey on the subjective sinus surgical skills using a visual analog scale before and after tasks. Two-tailed paired T-tests were used to analyze the data.
Results: All residents rated their post-intervention “overall sinus surgery skills” higher than pre-intervention (p = 0.0002). They rated simulations to provide more significant utility as an adjunct to surgical education after the intervention. All but one participant reported improved special awareness working with the endoscopes and surgical instruments (p = 0.0001). There was subjectively improved proficiency in using 0-degree and angled endoscopes as well as cutting, grasping, and curved instruments after the intervention. The session led to subjective improvements in spatial awareness, bimanual dexterity, and increased confidence in selecting correct surgical instruments.
Conclusion: Our set of novel 3D printed models to improve sinus surgery skillset was well accepted by the resident cohort. The 3D models can serve as a tool as an adjunct to the traditional residency education.