Construct Validation of the Fundamental Skills of Robotic Surgery (FSRS) Curriculum

S. Raza, A. Chowriappa, A. Stegemann, K. Ahmed, Y. Shi, G. Wilding, J. Kaouk, J. Peabody, M. Menon, T. Kesavadas, K. Guru

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Guy’s Hospital London; Henry Ford Hospital

Objective:
We report construct validation of a structured curriculum for robot-assisted surgery- Fundamental Skills of Robotic Surgery (FSRS)

Materials and Methods:
Fundamental Skills of Robotic Surgery (FSRS) curriculum is a sequential, modular criterion – based structured curriculum for acquiring basic skills of robot-assisted surgery. A convenience cohort of 61 surgeons participated in this prospective study. Participants were classified as novice (0 robotic cases) and experts (>150 robotic cases). All participants were required to complete four tasks of FSRS curriculum (ball placement, coordinated tool control, fourth arm control, needle handling and exchange). Using the statistical algorithm for metric evaluation, the performances of each group were compared to evaluate construct validation in terms of human – machine interface, operative interaction and safety.

Results:
Novice group (n=49) consisted of 24 surgical residents with less than 5 years and 25 surgeons with more than 5 years of postgraduate experience. The novice group had no previous robotic console experience (P=0.0001). The expert group (n=12) consisted of 12 surgeons with >150 prior robotic cases experience. An overall significant difference was observed in favour of expert group in all four FSRS tasks sets. Time to complete all four tasks was significantly shorter (P<0.001) in the expert group. Expert group displayed a better safety in the operative field with significantly lesser tool collision (P=0.002) and reduced tissue damage (P<0.001). While performing steps of FSRS, use of camera (P<0.001) and clutch (P<0.001) by expert group’s was significantly higher.

Conclusion:
Fundamental Skills of Robotic Surgery (FSRS) curriculum is able to differentiate levels of expertise in Robot-assisted surgery. Further multi-national studies are underway in evaluating its effectiveness in acquiring the basic tenets of robotic surgical skills.

Session: Poster Presentation

Program Number: ETP024