Effects of short-course virtual reality or video-box training on basic laparoscopic skills and simulated surgical performance in veterinary students.

Objective: To compare novices' performance on simulated laparoscopic tasks with a box trainer and virtual reality (VR) trainer before and after training on one system, and to compare performance between groups following training.

Study design: Randomized, prospective study.

Sample population: Twelve veterinary students without prior hands-on laparoscopic experience were randomly assigned to the box or VR training group.

Methods: Performance of basic laparoscopic tasks on box and VR trainers and simulated surgical task were scored before and after completion of a designated training program. Scores for each task were compared within and between groups.

Results: The box group's post-training scores were higher than pretraining scores for all box tasks. The VR group's post-training scores were higher than pretraining scores for most VR tasks. Median post-training scores were higher in the box group than the VR group for all box tasks. Median post-training scores were higher for the VR group than the box group only for VR intracorporeal suturing. Neither program led to a substantial improvement in simulated surgical task performance.

Conclusion: In this study the box trainer seemed more effective than the VR trainer for training novices to perform most basic tasks. The lack of substantial improvement of simulated surgical task performance is likely related to study limitations including small sample size and short training timeline.

Impact: Both training systems increased basic laparoscopic skills in novices. Laparoscopic simulation training may be applicable within veterinary school curricula. Additional studies are warranted to assess these systems with different tasks and trainee experience.