Development of a Low Cost, Renewable Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Skills Trainer (ESSST)

Abstract

While otolaryngology (ORL) bootcamps are being increasingly utilized for resident education, many simulators are prohibitively expensive or complicated to construct. We constructed and validated a novel low cost and low fidelity endoscopic sinus surgery skills trainer (ESSST). After construction, participants were divided into 3 groups based on endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) experience. The study participants were asked to perform 3 tasks. Their performance was videotaped and subsequently blindly evaluated by two rhinologists. Each task was scored based on performance and economy of motion using a standard scoring sheet. A one-way ANOVA and Post Hoc Tukey Tests were used to determine if there was a significant difference in performance of the 3 groups. The data suggests that skill and experience with ESS directly translates to the simulator, supporting that the ESSST is low cost, validated, renewable and a useful adjunct to higher fidelity simulators.