Evaluation of Operative Imaging Techniques in Surgical Education

BACKGROUND: Certain open surgical procedures are difficult to observe, and poor visualization of the surgical field results in a compromised teaching environment for residents and medical students. In an attempt to improve the visualization of the open surgical field, we performed an open surgical procedure while viewing it via a laparoscope mounted to the side of the operating room table with an alpha port. These images were then compared in a blinded fashion with images from a boom-mounted camera positioned above the surgical field and a head-mounted camera positioned on the operating surgeon. METHODS: Participants viewed all 3 images from a remote location in a blinded, random fashion. All participants then completed a Likert questionnaire evaluating each image. RESULTS: Fourteen participants were in the study. The alpha port/laparoscope image was superior to the head-cam image in all 8 categories. The alpha port/laparoscope image was superior to the sky-cam image in 4 of 8 categories. All 14 participants felt the alpha port/laparoscope image would benefit surgical education CONCLUSIONS: Use of a laparoscope mounted via an alpha port to an operating room table provides superior images during open surgery. This provides a unique and affordable way to teach residents and medical students operative procedures that are otherwise difficult to view.