Microsurgery Training for the Twenty-First Century

Current educational interventions and training courses in microsurgery are often predicated on theories of skill acquisition and development that follow a 'practice makes perfect' model. Given the changing landscape of surgical training and advances in educational theories related to skill development, research is needed to assess current training tools in microsurgery education and devise alternative methods that would enhance training. Simulation is an increasingly important tool for educators because, whilst facilitating improved technical proficiency, it provides a way to reduce risks to both trainees and patients. The International Microsurgery Simulation Society has been founded in 2012 in order to consolidate the global effort in promoting excellence in microsurgical training. The society's aim to achieve standarisation of microsurgical training worldwide could be realised through the development of evidence based educational interventions and sharing best practices.

Towards a Global Understanding and Standardisation of Education and Training in Microsurgery

With an increasing emphasis on microsurgery skill acquisition through simulated training, the need has been identified for standardised training programmes in microsurgery. We have reviewed microsurgery training courses available across the six continents of the World. Data was collected of relevant published output from PubMed, MEDLINE (Ovid), and EMBASE (Ovid) searches, and from information available on the Internet of up to six established microsurgery course from each of the six continents of the World. Fellowships and courses that concentrate on flap harvesting rather than microsurgical techniques were excluded. We identified 27 centres offering 39 courses. Total course length ranged from 20 hours to 1,950 hours. Student-to-teacher ratios ranged from 2:1 to 8:1. Only two-thirds of courses offered in-vivo animal models. Instructions in microvascular end-to-end and end-to-side anastomoses were common, but peripheral nerve repair or free groin flap transfer were not consistently offered. Methods of assessment ranged from no formal assessment, where an instructor monitored and gave instant feedback, through immediate assessment of patency and critique on quality of repair, to delayed re-assessment of patency after a 12 to 24 hours period. Globally, training in microsurgery is heterogeneous, with variations primarily due to resource and regulation of animal experimentation. Despite some merit to diversity in curricula, there should be a global minimum standard for microsurgery training.

Long-term result of guided nerve regeneration with an inert microporous polytetrafluoroethylene conduit / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the long-term outcome of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) conduit in nerve repair and to provide more evidence in view of its potential application to achieve a satisfactory functional recovery in clinical settings.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-six Wistar rats had their right sciatic nerve transected and were repaired with either conventional microsuture technique (Control group, n=18) or a PTFE conduit with a gap of 5 mm left between the nerve stumps (PTFE group, n=18). At 6 and 9 months after the operation, electrophysiological assessment and measurement of gastrocnemius muscle weight were conducted and morphology of the regenerated nerves were studied with image analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At 6 months postoperatively, the nerve conduction velocity recovered to 60.86% and 54.36% (P<0.05), and the gastrocnemius muscle weight recovered to 50.89% and 46.11% (P>0.05) in the Control group and the PTFE group respectively. At 9 months postoperatively, the recovery rate was 65.99% and 58.79% for NCV (P>0.05), and 52.56% and 47.89% for gastrocnemius muscle weight (P>0.05) in the Control group and the PTFE group respectively. Regenerated nerve fibers in the PTFE group had a regular round shape with no fragmentation, wrinkling or splitting of the myelin sheath. Image analysis revealed that the ratio of the myelin area to the total fiber area was larger at 9 months than at 6 months in both groups (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Microporous PTFE conduit may be an alternative for nerve repair allowing of guided nerve regeneration and functional recovery with no obvious adverse effect at long-term.</p>