Cole Rodman, MS, Jennifer Schwartz, MD, David Renton, MD, FACS, Michael Meara, MD, MBA, FACS. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Introduction: The proportion of robotic minimally invasive procedures that are being performed annually is growing rapidly, specifically in the field of general surgery. A robotic approach to minimally invasive procedures potentially confers a number of benefits ranging from a magnified viewing field to greater attenuation and translation of hand movements leading to improved stability and maneuverability. It is paramount that a robust curriculum is designed for training surgical residents in robotic techniques. The aim of this project is to assess the current state of robotic surgery training at the Ohio State University, with specific regard to whether it is currently temporally effective in addition to establishing a baseline against which the robotic surgery curriculum can be compared.
Methods and Procedures: Data were obtained for 199 cases performed at the Ohio State University Hospital East, between January and September of 2017. Case time, date, type, and attending surgeon were recorded and tracked for review. Of the 199 cases, 72 were cholecystectomies, 40 were unilateral inguinal hernia repairs, and 36 were bilateral inguinal hernia repairs—for a total of 148 procedures included in the analysis. Chief Residents were trained in two-month blocks, beginning in January of 2017. Mean console operative times for the first and second months were compared for cholecystectomies as well as unilateral and bilateral inguinal hernia repairs.
Results: Mean console time decreased for cholecystectomies (-9.0%; N = 72), bilateral (-16.0%; N = 36) and unilateral (-1.5%; N = 40) inguinal hernia repairs from month one to month two. There was a large amount of variance across training blocks, but there was a systematic improvement in operative time across the training period. Average operation length was shortest for cholecystectomies (m = 66.8 min), followed by unilateral inguinal hernia repairs (m = 85.3 min), and finally bilateral inguinal hernia repairs (m = 111.2 min).
Discussion: This preliminary data suggests that residents are able to decrease their robotic operation time over the course of the two-month rotation. Although sample sizes were relatively small for each block, the consistency of the trend supports this conclusion. Further data collection will allow for more precise estimates in the future, and stronger conclusions to be drawn. These results show that rapid improvement is possible and provide motivation to establish robotic surgery curricula for general surgery residents nationally.
Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.
Abstract ID: 88206
Program Number: P795
Presentation Session: iPoster Session (Non CME)
Presentation Type: Poster
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