Evaluation of Two-Dimensional (2D) versus Three-Dimensional (3D) Video Tutorials in Cataract Surgery for New Trainees.

 Microscopic ophthalmic surgery requires an understanding of three-dimensional (3D) spaces within the eye. Recently, there has been an increase in 3D video training tools in health care. Studies have evaluated the efficacy of 3D tutorials in general surgery, but little has been published within ophthalmology. We present a randomized study evaluating differences in surgically naïve trainees after watching either a 2D or 3D phacoemulsification tutorial.  This was a double-blind, randomized study. A group of third and fourth year medical students at our institution were randomized with stratified randomization based on prior surgical courses to control for differences in baseline surgical skill. The two study arms were watching 2D or 3D instructional videos on phacoemulsification (Richard Mackool).  Participants received a preliminary survey and participated in an hour-long microscopic surgery session. During the session, participants performed tasks evaluating baseline microscopic spatial awareness and surgical skill. The students were then instructed to watch either a 2D or 3D video on phacoemulsification based on their randomized study arm. During the postintervention session, participants performed the biplanar incision and capsulorhexis steps of cataract surgery discussed in the video on model eyes. Students were evaluated on speed and overall capsulorhexis quality.  Thirty-one students qualified for the study and completed the microscopic surgery session. Students in both groups had similar baseline speed and quality of preintervention microscopic tasks (  > 0.05 for all tasks). Postintervention, students randomized to the 3D video performed significantly faster than the 2D group for biplanar incision (11.1 ± 5.5 s vs. 20.7 ± 10.5 s,  = 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences found between the groups in capsulorhexis timing (  = 0.12) or quality score (  = 0.60).  3D video surgical training tutorials may improve speed of certain steps of cataract surgery for surgically naïve ophthalmology trainees. Given the limited sample size of this study, further investigation of their effectiveness is warranted.