DOES LAPAROSCOPIC EXPERIENCE GIVES SURGEONS AN EDGE IN ROBOT ASSISTED SURGICAL SKILL ACQUISITION: FINDINGS FROM A SIMULATION-BASED ASSESSMENT drsuhani@gmail.com

 

DOES LAPAROSCOPIC EXPERIENCE GIVES SURGEONS AN EDGE IN ROBOT ASSISTED SURGICAL SKILL ACQUISITION: FINDINGS FROM A SIMULATION-BASED ASSESSMENT

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India

Oral or Poster

Robotic technology is increasingly becoming a part of the general surgical armamentarium. There are differing views if prior laparoscopic exposure impacts learning curve of robot assisted surgery.

This study was conducted with to assess effect of prior exposure to laparoscopic surgery on robotic skill acquisition during performance of designated simulation tasks. It had primary objective to assess task proficiency and secondary outcome included execution time. Designated tasks were of varying complexity (peg board, match board, knot the ring and horizontal suturing). Surgery residents having prior laparoscopic exposure of doing five cases were included in Group A and laparoscopic naïve residents in group B. Tasks were performed thrice and median included. Error scores were measured as function of instrument collision, drops, Duration of Excessive force on instrument and number of times instrument were out of view. Data normality was checked by using Shapiro-Wilk test. Chi square and Mann-Whitney Test were used for analysis.

Sixty surgical residents were divided into two groups: without prior laparoscopic experience (40, group A) and with prior laparoscopic exposure (n=20). Prior laparoscopic experience significantly improved performance in basic safety metrics (instrument collisions and drops) during simple robotic tasks (peg board). Laparoscopy-experienced demonstrated significantly better control over the master workspace in all tasks (p<0.05) . No significant differences were observed in execution time and economy of motion across groups. There was no statistically significant difference in other parameters.

Prior laparoscopic training aids early robotic skill adaptation, robotic proficiency requires dedicated, platform-specific training.