• Steven M Lucas, Ilia S Zeltser, Karim Bensalah, Altug Tuncel, Adam Jenkins, Margaret S Pearle, and Jeffrey A Cadeddu.
• University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390-9110, USA.
• J. Urol. 2008 Dec 1; 180 (6): 2588-91; discussion 2591.

PurposeVirtual reality simulators provide a safe and efficient means of acquiring laparoscopic skills. We evaluated whether training on a virtual reality laparoscopic cholecystectomy simulator (Lap Mentor) improves the performance of a live, unrelated laparoscopic urological procedure.Materials And MethodsA total of 32 medical students with no previous laparoscopic experience were oriented to the Lap Mentor, and then performed virtual reality laparoscopic cholecystectomy which was assessed by 2 experienced laparoscopists using the previously validated Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills scoring. Subjects were randomized to group 1, in which participants completed 6, 30-minute virtual reality training sessions within 3 weeks, or group 2, in which participants received no training. All participants then performed live laparoscopic nephrectomy in a porcine model and performance was evaluated using Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills by 2 experts blinded to training status.ResultsMean total pretraining laparoscopic cholecystectomy Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills scores were comparable between the groups (16.9 +/- 4.3 for group 1 vs 15.4 +/- 6.2 for group 2, p = 0.4). After training total Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills scores for live porcine laparoscopic nephrectomy were significantly higher in group 1 compared to group 2 (21.0 +/- 6.8 vs 15.7 +/- 6.6, respectively, p = 0.03). Likewise, individual subcategory Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills scores were higher in group 1 than in group 2, although significant differences were noted only in the categories of instrument handling and knowledge of the procedure.ConclusionsSurgical skills acquired as a result of training on a virtual reality laparoscopic simulator are not procedure specific but improve overall surgical skills, thereby translating into superior performance of an unrelated live laparoscopic urological procedure.

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