CAN VIRTUAL REALITY BE AS GOOD AS OPERATING ROOM TRAINING? EXPERIENCE FROM A RESIDENCY PROGRAM IN GENERAL SURGERY

BACKGROUND: The increasingly intense usage of technology applied to videosurgery and the advent of robotic platforms accelerated the use of virtual models in training surgical skills. AIM: To evaluate the performance of a general surgery department’s residents in a video-simulated laparoscopic cholecystectomy in order to understand whether training with virtual reality is sufficient to provide the skills that are normally acquired in hands-on experience at the operating room. METHODS: An observational study with twenty-five first- and second-year general surgery residents. Each subject performed three video-laparoscopic cholecystectomies under supervision in a simulator. Only the best performance was evaluated in the study. Total number of complications and total procedure time were evaluated independently. The groups were defined according to total practice time (G1 and G2) and the year of residency (R1 and R2), each being analysed separately. RESULTS: Twenty-one residents finished the three practices, with four follow-up losses. Mean practice time was 33.5 hours. Lowering of the rate of lesions in important structures could be identified after a level of proficiency of 60%, which all participants obtained regardless of previous in vivo experience. No significant difference between the R1 and R2 groups was observed. CONCLUSION: Learning in groups R1 and R2 was equal, regardless of whether previous practice was predominantly in vivo (R2) or with virtual reality (R1). Therefore, it is possible to consider that skills obtained in virtual reality training are capable of equalising the proficiency of first- and second-year residents, being invaluable to increase patient safety and homogenise learning of basic surgical procedures.