Didactic Benefits of Surgery on Body Donors during Live Surgery Events in Minimally Invasive Surgery

Abstract

Background: Live surgery events serve as a valuable tool for surgical education, but also raise ethical concerns about patient safety and professional performance. In the present study, we evaluate the technical feasibility and didactic benefits of live surgery on body donors compared to real patients. Methods: A live surgery session performed on a body donor’s cadaver embalmed in ethanol–glycerol–lysoformin was integrated into the live surgery program presented at a major gynecological convention of minimally invasive surgery. Surgical procedures carried out in real patients were paralleled in the body donor, including the dissection and illustration of surgically relevant anatomical landmarks. A standardized questionnaire was filled by the participants (n = 208) to evaluate the appropriateness, effectiveness, and benefits of this novel concept. Results: The live surgery event was appreciated as a useful educational tool. With regard to the use of body donors, authenticity was rated high (85.5%), and the overall value of body donors for surgical education and training was rated very high (95.0%). The didactic benefit of simultaneous operations performed on body donors and real patients was considered particularly useful (95.5%), whereas complete replacement of real patients by body donors was not favored (14.5%). Conclusions: The study demonstrated both the technical feasibility and didactic benefits of performing minimally invasive surgery in body donors as part of live surgery events. This novel concept has the potential to enhance anatomical knowledge, providing insights into complex surgical procedures, and may serve to overcome yet unresolved ethical concerns related to live surgery events.

Video Feedback and Video Modeling in Teaching Laparoscopic Surgery: A Visionary Concept from Kiel

“…The feedback given by the experts was oriented to the OSATS score (Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills) [ 29 ]. At the end of the feedback, all attendees were asked to complete a modified self-formulated questionnaire based on questions already used in a previous study done by our group and approved by a statistician [ 30 ].…”

Evaluation of Laparoscopy Virtual Reality Training on the Improvement of Trainees’ Surgical Skills

“…In surgical training, the introduction of various training modules, from the simple laparoscopy training boxes to virtual reality simulation and advanced training on cadavers, has allowed surgeons to improve their operative skills. The current literature shows that live surgery sessions on a donated cadaver are highly rated with an overall satisfaction for surgical education, although the unresolved ethical concerns related to live surgery events remain [ 3 ]. However, availability, costs, and lack of sufficient standardization and evaluation of the simulation resulted in the prolongation of the learning curve of the surgeons.…”