Abstract
Background
Vital injuries during midurethral sling surgery are avoided by maintaining constant
trocar contact with bone, and yet this is challenging for a teaching surgeon to monitor
during this blind procedure. We modified a retropubic trocar with a load cell to distinguish
on-bone and off-bone movement and tested it on a midurethral sling surgery 3-dimensional
surgery simulator.
Methods
Two experts and 3 novice surgeons performed retropubic trocar passage on the physical
pelvic floor model using the modified trocar. Biofidelity was assessed comparing expert
performance on a Thiel-embalmed cadaver and the physical model. The test-retest was
assessed comparing performance on the physical pelvic model 2 weeks apart. The force
variables were analyzed with paired and independent t tests. We performed post hoc analyses comparing the experts to novices on the physical
model.
Results
The root-mean-squared force was similar between the cadaver and model (24.3 vs 21.1
pounds, P = .62), suggesting biofidelity. Root-mean-squared force was also similar between
the test and retest (14.0 vs 19.1 pounds, P =. 30). The expert surgeons exhibited a larger maximum force amplitude (51.2 vs 22.7
pounds, P = .03), shorter time to maximum force (2.7 vs 9.5 seconds, P = .03) and larger maximum rate of force development (171.5 vs 54.0 pounds/second,
P = .01).
Conclusion
This study suggested high test-retest reliability and adequate biofidelity of the
modified trocar used on our midurethral sling surgery 3-dimensional surgery simulator.
This innovative trocar can be used both in simulation and in the operating room to
help the novice surgeons stay on the bone and to help the attending surgeon monitor
safe surgery.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 09, 2022
Accepted:
June 10,
2022
Footnotes
Oral presentation at 2021 American College of Surgeons: Surgeons and Engineers: A Dialogue on Surgical Simulation Meeting, March 10, 2021 (virtual).
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
