Clinical, Preclinical, and Educational Applications of Robotic-Assisted Flap Reconstruction and Microsurgery: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: Microsurgery and super-microsurgery allow for highly technical reconstructive surgeries to be performed, with repairs of anatomical areas of less than 1 mm. Robotic-assisted surgery might allow for further advances within microsurgery, providing higher precision, accuracy, and scope to operate in previously inaccessible anatomical areas. However, robotics is not well-established within this field.

The emerging role of robotics in plastic and reconstructive surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The role of robotics has grown exponentially. There is an active interest amongst practitioners in the transferability of the potential benefits into plastic and reconstructive surgery; however, many plastic surgeons report lack of widespread implementation, training, or clinical exposure. We report the current evidence base, and surgical opportunities, alongside key barriers, and limitations to overcome, to develop the use of robotics within the field.

A comparison of commercially available synthetic skin substitutes for surgical simulation training.

Objective: Simulation training provides an important opportunity to accelerate surgical skills acquisition whilst safeguarding patients. This study compares the suitability of different synthetic skin substitutes for use in surgical simulation training.

Design: Data was collected for eight commercially available synthetic skin substitutes and included cost, delivery time, subjective assessment of fidelity by surgeons and trainees, and objective comparison with the biomechanics of human skin was made through cutometry and durometry measurements.

Course Review: Yorkshire Microsurgery Course 2023.

Microsurgery is an advanced set of techniques that require a high level of skill to be performed safely. Surgical skills courses offer safe environments for practice in such skills and form a fundamental part of surgical training. The Yorkshire Microsurgery Course is a 3-day course at Bradford Royal Infirmary, United Kingdom.