Developing an Evidence-Based Surgical Curriculum: Learning from a Randomized Controlled Trial of Surgical Rehearsal in Virtual Reality

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Surgical rehearsal — patient-specific preoperative surgical practice — can be provided by virtual reality simulation. This study investigated the effect of surgical rehearsal on cortical mastoidectomy performance and procedure duration. METHODS: University students (n = 40) were randomized evenly into a rehearsal and control group. After watching a video tutorial on cortical mastoidectomy, participants completed the procedure on a virtual reality simulator as a pre-test. Participants completed a further 8 cortical mastoidectomies on the virtual reality simulator as training before drilling two 3-dimensional (3D) printed temporal bones. The rehearsal group received 3D printed bone..