Learning curve for endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) of pancreatic lesions in a novel ex-vivo simulation model

Background: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is essential in the management of digestive cancers. However, teaching and learning this technique remain challenging due to the lack of cost-effective models. Material and methods: This was a prospective experimental study using a complete porcine upper gastrointestinal ex-vivo organ package, placed in an Erlangen Active Simulator for Interventional Endoscopy (EASIE-R), and prepared with one cyst and two solid masses (2 cm). Five fellows inexperienced in EUS-FNA were enrolled, performing 10 procedures on each lesion, alternatively. The total time, number of attempts for success, of needle view losses, and of scope handling were recorded, associated with an independent skills rating by procedure. We compared the first 15 procedures with the last 15 for each fellow. Results: The fellows successfully performed all procedures in 2 to 40 minutes, requiring 1 to 6 attempts. All (5/5) improved their total time taken (P < 0.001), number of times when the EUS view of the needle was lost (P < 0.05), scope handling (P < 0.005), and skills rating (P < 0.001), whereas 4/5 (80 %) improved their number of attempts. The overall evaluation showed a significant decrease (P < 0.001) in the total time taken (11.2 ± 7.8 vs 4.3 ± 2.2 minutes), number of attempts (2.6 ± 1.2 vs 1.2 ± 0.7), number of times when the EUS view of the needle was lost (2.3 ± 2 vs 0.5 ± 0.7), and need for scope handling (1.1 ± 1.7 vs 0.1 ± 0.2). We also observed an improvement in skills rating (5 ± 1.9 vs. 7.7 ± 1.1). Conclusion: This newly designed ex-vivo model seems to be an effective way to improve the initial learning of EUS-FNA, by performing 30 procedures.