NCT04489680

Cleft Palate Surgical Simulator: Improvement in Surgical Trainees' Knowledge and Confidence.

Educational Impact and Development of a Novel Cleft Palate Surgical Simulator: Improvement in Surgical Trainees' Knowledge and Confidence.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 26 (actual)
• Sponsor: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: —
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Trainees' experience in cleft surgery is limited due to the high-risk nature of the surgery and centralization of cleft care. Simulations allow trainees to learn complex surgical skills whilst ensuring patient safety. Existing cleft surgical simulators are over-simplified or prohibitively expensive. We developed and tested a high-fidelity yet cost-effective simulator for cleft palate repair. Skeletal elements were obtained through high-resolution scanning of a pathologic specimen, 3D printed and then molded in plastic. Soft tissue components were formed through molding layers of silicone. 26 UK specialty trainees performed a vomerine mucosal flap and intra-velar veloplasty in a one-hour workshop. Pre- and post-simulation questionnaires assessing cleft knowledge and surgical confidence were compared for statistical significance.

Detailed description

Background: Trainees' experience in cleft surgery is limited due to the high-risk nature of the surgery and centralization of cleft care. Simulations allow trainees to learn complex surgical skills whilst ensuring patient safety. Existing cleft surgical simulators are over-simplified or prohibitively expensive. We developed and tested a high-fidelity yet cost-effective simulator for cleft palate repair. Methods: Skeletal elements were obtained through high-resolution scanning of a pathologic specimen, 3D printed and then molded in plastic. Soft tissue components were formed through molding layers of silicone. 26 UK specialty trainees performed a vomerine mucosal flap and intra-velar veloplasty in a one-hour workshop. Pre- and post-simulation questionnaires assessing cleft knowledge and surgical confidence were compared for statistical significance.

Conditions

• Cleft Palate Lip

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Educational	Teaching session

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-01-01
• Primary completion: 2019-04-30
• Completion: 2019-08-31
• First posted: 2020-07-28
• Last updated: 2020-07-28

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom