Evidence for Endovascular Simulation Training: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Contemporary evidence shows that performance metrics within endovascular simulations improve with simulation training. Successful translation to in vivo situations is observed in patient specific procedure rehearsals and RCTs on real procedures. However, there is no level I evidence to show that predictive validity of simulation can definitively improve patient outcomes. Current literature supports the idea that there is a beneficial role of simulation in endovascular training. Future studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of simulation in endovascular surgical training and to see if simulation is superior to traditional training in the operating theatre.

Is patient-specific pre-operative preparation feasible in a clinical environment? A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Similarly, Pratt et al [65] looked into preparation prior to foetal surgery, suggesting that although early evidence is promising, the exact impact on surgical outcomes cannot be accurately determined due to small numbers of reported cases. A beneficial impact was also reported by See et al [66], investigating the impact of endovascular surgery rehearsals on trainees' performance. The lack of randomised controlled trials was highlighted in both studies.…”

A National Needs Assessment to Identify Technical Procedures in Vascular Surgery for Simulation Based Training

“…26 Evidence suggests that endovascular simulations can improve performance and that successful translation is observed in in vivo situations; however, its impact on improved patient outcome is yet to be proven. 23 Simulation based training for both endovenous and open treatment of varicose veins were identified as no. 14 and 16, respectively and can be trained in a simulation based environment.…”

Virtual and Augmented Reality in Medical Education

“…It supports haptic feedback, and it can benefit trainees of different disciplines, including interventional cardiology, interventional radiology, vascular surgery, electrophysiology, neuro surgery, and interventional neuroradiology and trauma. It has shown better procedure time, fluoroscopy time, and contrast volume in many procedures, such as carotid artery stenting, renal artery stenting, and cerebral artery angioplasty [42,58].…”

“…Cardio CT (Shina System), SimSuite (Medical Simulation Corporation), and the newer Compass™ 2 (Medical Simulation Corporation) are other VR simulators that have not been so extensively studied [58].…”

“…It also supports haptic feedback and has many difficulty levels. Studies have shown improvement of users' performance in many endovascular procedures, including carotid artery, cerebral artery, renal artery, iliofemoral artery, aorta, and superficial femoral artery procedures [42,58].…”