Can a Computer-based Force Feedback Hip Fracture Skills Simulator Improve Clinical Task Performance? A Cadaveric Validation Study.

Background: This cadaveric study seeks to determine whether skills acquired on the simulator translate to improved performance of the clinical task. We hypothesized that completion of simulator training modules would improve performance of percutaneous hip pinning.

Methods: Eighteen right-handed medical students from two academic institutions were randomized: trained (n = 9) and untrained (n = 9). The trained group completed nine simulator-based modules of increasing difficulty, designed to teach techniques of placing wires in an inverted triangle construct in a valgus-impacted femoral neck fracture. The untrained group had a brief simulator introduction but did not complete the modules. Both groups received a hip fracture lecture, an explanation and pictorial reference of an inverted triangle construct, and instruction on using the wire driver. Participants then placed three 3.2 mm guidewires in cadaveric hips in an inverted triangle construct under fluoroscopy. Wire placement was evaluated with CT at 0.5 mm sections.

Results: The trained group significantly outperformed the untrained group in most parameters (P ≤ 0.05).

Conclusions: The results suggest that a force feedback simulation platform with simulated fluoroscopic imaging using an established, increasingly difficult series of motor skills training modules has potential to improve clinical performance and might offer an important adjunct to traditional orthopaedic training.