Laparoscopic management of ectopic pregnancy by trainees in Wales

Abstract

Objective To discover whether trainees in Wales are able to manage ectopic pregnancy using laparoscopic techniques, and to identify factors preventing trainees from acquiring and using these skills. Design Postal questionnaires. Setting Wales deanery of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Subjects All specialist registrars in obstetrics and gynaecology. Results Two surveys were completed. The initial survey in January 2000 had a response rate of 91% and found that 38% of trainees could independently manage an ectopic pregnancy laparoscopically. A more detailed survey in January 2002 with an 87% response rate found that 21% of trainees were able to manage an ectopic pregnancy laparoscopically. However, only 7% of specialist registrars in years 1–3 of training could do so. The main reasons why trainees could not manage ectopic pregnancies laparoscopically were lack of practical experience coupled with a lack of consultant supervision. Conclusions Over 2 years, there was a decrease in the number of trainees able to manage an ectopic pregnancy using laparoscopic techniques. This has important implications both for training and service provision.

Laparoscopic management of tubal ectopic pregnancy: availability of training

“…Thus the work of Qureshi et al is very similar to ours in content, methodology and purpose, and the results of all these studies must be of direct relevance to each other. The results of our 2000 survey and more detailed findings of the 2002 study have been published 3 . The results of all three surveys were reported to the British Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2004 4 and, following a request, this synopsis was sent to Dr Qureshi 5 .…”

Authors' reply

“…We thank Mr Myerson for his interest in our paper 1 . A literature search performed before writing up our review article did not pick up his paper 2 . We have investigated this and found that his paper is not available on Medline but on EMBASE.…”