Patient comprehension of oncologic surgical procedures using 3D printed surgical planning prototypes

Purpose

Patient understanding of complex surgical procedures and post-intervention consequences is often poor. Little is known about the effectiveness of 3D printed models to improve the comprehension of the medical information provided to patients. The purpose of this study was to determine if 3D printed patient-specific anatomical models could help improve patients’ satisfaction and understanding of complex oncological surgical procedures, their risks, benefits, and alternatives.

Basic procedure

A randomized, controlled crossover experiment was performed, where subjects were randomly assigned to different treatments of the study. This experiment involved teenage patients experts from Kids Barcelona, a Young Person's Advisory Group. The team (n = 14, age range 14–20, 9 females and 5 males) was divided into two groups involved in two simulated pre-surgical outpatient visits for complex oncologic surgical procedures: a high-risk stage 4 abdominal neuroblastoma, and a biliary tract rhabdomyosarcoma. Two senior oncologic surgeons participated in the study by performing the structured outpatient pre-surgical visit. Each participant received information before the study explaining the study methodology and was given a questionnaire.

Main findings

Data analysis of the group using the 3D printed model for the neuroblastoma case showed better results than without the 3D model. On the other hand, conversely, on the data analysis of the rhabdomyosarcoma case with the 3D printed model no better results were observed as compared to the case of not using a 3D model. However, the results of the participants’ knowledge were still better than before the intervention. Satisfaction was significantly better with a 3D model in both cases.

Conclusion

The use of 3D physical models improves the patient's knowledge and shows the effectiveness of 3D printed models to enhance the comprehension of the medical information provided to patients and improve satisfaction.