The use of simulators to acquire ERCP skills: a systematic review

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a technically demanding diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedure with a high risk for adverse events such as post-ERCP pancreatitis and bleeding. Since endoscopists with less experience have higher adverse event rates, the training of new residents on ERCP simulators has been suggested to improve the resident’s technical skills necessary for ERCP. However, there is a lack of consensus on whether the training program should focus on a threshold number of procedures or be more tailored to the individual’s performance. Furthermore, there is also disagreement on which form of simulator(s) should be used. Therefore, the primary outcome of this systematic review was to study the extent to which simulators used for ERCP training are correctly validated. METHODS: In 2022, a systematic search of the literature was conducted on MEDLINE and SCOPUS under the guidance of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) 2020 protocol seeking articles with the MeSH terms ‘Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography’ OR ‘ERCP’ in combination with ‘simulation’ OR ‘simulator’. RESULTS: The search resulted in 41 references. A total of 19 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative analysis. Only one of the articles fulfilled the criteria of a robust validation study. CONCLUSIONS: Since only one of the 19 articles met the requirements for a thorough and correct validation, further studies with sufficient numbers of subjects, that evaluate complete preclinical training programs based on validated ERCP simulators are warranted.