The influence of musical experience on laparoscopic surgical skill performance: an original investigation and literature review.

Background: As the needs and curricula of surgical residencies evolve, recent studies have focused on identifying factors that may be related to faster and more efficient surgical skill acquisition, such as experience with playing video games, sports, and other dexterous activities. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between instrumental musical experience and laparoscopic surgical skill performance as well as to provide an overview of the available literature on this topic.

Methods: A query from database inception to January 2023 of the PubMed database for literature discussing the association of musical experience and surgical skills was conducted.

Surgical and Medical Applications of Drones: A Comprehensive Review.

Background: Drones have the ability to gather real time data cost effectively, to deliver payloads and have initiated the rapid evolution of many industrial, commercial, and recreational applications. Unfortunately, there has been a slower expansion in the field of medicine. This article provides a comprehensive review of current and future drone applications in medicine, in hopes of empowering and inspiring more aggressive investigation.

SAGES Mini Med School: inspiring high school students through exposure to the field of surgery.

Objective: The SAGES Mini Med School (SMMS) was designed to expose high school students to the field of surgery through mentoring, knowledge transfer, and hands-on experience with simulation. The objective of this paper is to profile the evolutionary development, performance metrics, and satisfaction queries of this innovative effort.

Methods: Sixty-one high school students, grades 9-12, took part in the (SMMS) program during the 2015 SAGES Annual Congress.

Design and Development of a Novel Distance Learning Telementoring System Using Off-the-Shelf Materials and Software.

Objective: To design and develop a distance learning (DL) system for the transference of laparoscopic surgery knowledge and skill constructed from off-the-shelf materials and commercially available software.

Introduction: Minimally invasive surgery offers significant benefits over traditional surgical procedures, but adoption rates for many procedures are low. Skill and confidence deficits are two of the culprits.

Impact of Super Monkey Ball and Underground video games on basic and advanced laparoscopic skill training.

Objective: This abstract profiles the comparison of correlations between previously validated Super Monkey Ball (SMB) and recently introduced Underground (U) video game on the Nintendo Wii U to multiple validated tasks used for developing basic and advanced laparoscopic skills.

Methods: Sixty-eight participants, 53 residents and 15 attending surgeons, performed the Top Gun Pea Drop, FLS Peg Pass, intracorporeal suturing, and two video games (SMB and U). SMB is an over-the-counter game, and U was formulated for laparoscopic skill training.

A traumatic abdominal wall hernia repair: a laparoscopic approach.

Background: Traumatic abdominal wall hernias from blunt trauma usually occur as a consequence of motor vehicle collisions where the force is tangential, sudden, and severe. Although rare, these hernias can go undetected due to preservation of the skin overlying the hernia defect. Open repairs can be challenging and unsuccessful due to avulsion of muscle directly from the iliac crest, with or without bone loss.

The effect of video game "warm-up" on performance of laparoscopic surgery tasks.

Background: Performing laparoscopic procedures requires special training and has been documented as a significant source of surgical errors. "Warming up" before performing a task has been shown to enhance performance. This study investigates whether surgeons benefit from "warming up" using select video games immediately before performing laparoscopic partial tasks and clinical tasks.

Presentation and minimally invasive treatment of a type IV giant paraesophageal hernia.

Paraesophageal hernias (PEHs) result from a defect of the diaphragmatic hiatus with a gradual enlargement of the hiatal opening, allowing abdominal contents to shift into the mediastinum. PEHs are often confused with sliding hiatal hernias; however, it is paramount that physicians understand the subtle presentation differences in the types of diaphragmatic incompetence, as treatment may vary greatly. The type IV giant PEH is a dangerous variant that, once recognized, usually requires surgical intervention.

Telementoring: an application whose time has come.

Background: Telementoring offers the possibility of making extended education oversight available on a cost-effective, large-scale basis. It expands the mentor/proctor pool and makes these educational assets more widely available to assist in protecting the public. However, it is an application that if haphazardly implemented rapidly losses its effectiveness and is more dangerous to the patient.

The impact of video games on training surgeons in the 21st century.

Background: Video games have become extensively integrated into popular culture. Anecdotal observations of young surgeons suggest that video game play contributes to performance excellence in laparoscopic surgery. Training benefits for surgeons who play video games should be quantifiable.

The use of a "hybrid" trainer in an established laparoscopic skills program.

Objectives: Tabletop inanimate trainers have proven to be a safe, inexpensive, and convenient platform for developing laparoscopic skills. Historically, programs that utilize these trainers rely on subjective evaluation of errors and time as the only measures of performance. Virtual reality simulators offer more extensive data collection capability, but they are expensive and lack realism.

Wireless virtual instrument measurement of surgeons' physical and mental workloads for robotic versus manual minimally invasive surgery.

The human-technology interface in traditional minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is difficult for the surgeon. Efforts to improve this interface include the use of robotic surgery systems. Ergonomics studies are required to help understand and improve the MIS user interface.

Telementoring.

Telementoring began in the 1950s and is an advanced application of telemedicine that involves the removed guidance of a procedure where the student has no or limited experience. In the past 10 to 15 years, telemedicine has been revisited as a result of the healthcare delivery crisis, budgetary concerns, and the impact of managed care. In recent years, telementoring has had a number of successes which have led to further recent telementoring investigations and developments.