[Value of multimedia educational software in training of the paranasal sinus surgeon].

Background: When starting sinus surgery, every surgeon has to pass through an individual learning curve. To avoid complications, costly, time-consuming surveillance is necessary. We wanted to analyse the impact of multimedial teaching software on the learning curve.

Methods: A total of 1104 operations performed by four surgeons were evaluated. The first consecutive 200 operations by each surgeon were analyzed according to their complications. After revaluating the general phases of surgical development, we compared the first 90 operations by another group of four surgeons who had undergone training with the teaching program.

Results: Cauterization of the anterior ethmoidal anterior was nearly the same in both groups (10/8). Injuries of the dura dropped from 5 to 2, and periorbital lesions were reduced significantly from 20 to 5 (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Multimedial learning programs can reduce complications effectively and form a valuable part training.