Developing and testing competency levels for laparoscopic skills training.

HYPOTHESIS: Expert levels can be developed for use as training end points for a basic video-trainer skills curriculum, and the levels developed will be suitable for training. DESIGN: Fifty subjects with minimal prior simulator exposure were enrolled using an institutional review board-approved protocol. As a measure of baseline performance, medical students (n = 11) and surgery residents (n = 39) completed 3 trials on each of 5 validated video-trainer tasks. Four board-certified surgeons established as laparoscopic experts (with more than 250 basic and more than 50 advanced cases) performed 11 trials on each of the 5 tasks. The mean score was determined and outliers (>2 SDs) were trimmed; the trimmed mean was used as the competency level. Baseline performance of each subject was compared with the competency level for each task. SETTING: All research was performed in a laparoscopic skills training and simulation laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Medical students, surgical residents, and board-certified surgeons. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Expert scores based on completion time and the number of subjects achieving these scores at baseline testing. RESULTS: For all tasks combined, the competency level was reached by 6% of subjects by the third trial; 73% of these subjects were chief residents, and none were medical students. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the competency level is suitably challenging for novices but is achievable for subjects with more experience. Implementation of this performance criterion may allow trainees to reliably achieve maximal benefit while minimizing unnecessary training.

Acute endovascular management of a subclavian artery injury.

Traumatic injuries to the subclavian vessels are relatively uncommon and surgical repair may be technically challenging. With the increasing availability of endovascular techniques for nontraumatic arterial disease, an increase in the use of stenting for traumatic vascular injuries can be expected. This report describes the fifth successful endovascular repair with stenting of a pseudoaneurysm of the subclavian artery as a result of blunt trauma, and the first American report of such repair used in the acute or immediate management of blunt subclavian artery injury.

New Orleans Charity Hospital--your trauma center at work.

The Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans-Charity Hospital stands with pride as one of only two level I trauma centers in the state and one of the largest trauma centers in the United States, seeing over 4,000 trauma patients per year. Despite perennial funding issues, Charity Hospital's Emergency Department treated almost 200,000 patients in 2003. This brief report gives an overview of the emergency- and trauma-related services provided by Charity Hospital and underscores its value as a critical asset to healthcare in the Louisiana.

Complete femoral artery transection from blunt trauma.

Complete common femoral artery transection from blunt trauma without bony injury is a rare event. Below we report upon a young cyclist who sustained complete transection of the common femoral artery following blunt trauma. The patient was managed successfully by graft repair of the transected artery. This case report highlights the importance of prompt recognition and repair of this unusual injury as well as the relationship of the injury to a previously described pattern known as motor-scooter-handlebar syndrome.