Effect of a Surgical Teaching Video on Resident Performance of a Laparoscopic Salpingo-oophorectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Study Objective To assess the effect of a surgical teaching video on resident knowledge and performance of a laparoscopic salpingo-oophorectomy (LSO). Design Randomized controlled trial. Setting An urban tertiary care academic obstetrics and gynecology department. Patients or Participants First and second year gynecology residents. Interventions Access to an educational video of an LSO for one week prior to performing this surgery in the operating room. Measurements and Main Results Twenty-four residents were recruited and randomized to either the educational video group or traditional residency training group. All participants completed a demographic survey and knowledge questionnaire preceding their performance of an LSO, which was video recorded. Video recordings of surgical performance were analyzed by two blinded raters using the objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS, 20 points) and an LSO specific tool (30 points). Participants completed a self-assessment questionnaire following the procedure. The primary outcome measure was the difference in OSATS scores. The secondary outcomes were the knowledge questionnaire scores and self-assessed confidence scores. There were no significant differences between demographic variables of the two groups. The primary outcome revealed no significant differences in mean OSATS scores (10.64, SD 2.05 vs 11.55, SD 1.85, p=0.3) or LSO specific tool scores (16.45, SD 2.68 vs 17.85, SD 2.63, p=0.24). However, there was a significant difference in mean knowledge scores between the video and the traditional training ((8.42, SD 0.79 vs 7.11, SD 1.36, p=0.01) groups. In addition, residents in the video group had more confidence of their knowledge of pelvic anatomy (3.83/5, SD 0.39 vs 3.00, SD 1.00, p=0.04). Conclusion For junior learners, use of an LSO video improved knowledge and confidence in anatomy but did not translate to improved surgical performance in the operating room. Surgical videos are a useful adjunct and compliment hands-on technical teaching.