Assessing the Efficacy of Virtual Reality Trauma Surgery Training as Compared to Cadaveric Training

Abstract Background In traditional surgical educational settings multiple trainees share a cadaver, often due to logistical and fiscal limitations precluding routine one-to-one trainee to cadaver ratios. Thus, some procedures are learned via observation of a fellow trainee performance rather than hands on performance. Cadaveric training opportunities are rarer for those practicing in low resource environments such as rural communities yielding training inequity and in military combat zones. This pilot study assessed feasibility of virtual reality surgical educational training (VR-SET) in open trauma surgery procedures compared to in person cadaver-based training (CBT). Methods Medical students (4th year, n = 10) who completed VR-SET training were compared to a control group (residents, n = 22) who completed an in-person Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET) course. Participants were evaluated on performance of a lower extremity fasciotomy on a cadaver. Results VR-SET study participants decompressed an average of 2.45 ± 1.09 (range 1 to 4) compartments compared to the control group decompressed had an average of 2.06 ± 0.93 (range 0.5 to 4), statistically indistinguishable between the groups (p = 0.35). Numerical scores for anatomic knowledge, surgical management, and procedure performance were also not significantly different between groups. Control subjects had significantly higher pathophysiology knowledge and surgical technique scores. Conclusions Overall, VR-SET participants were indistinguishable from the in-person CBT cohort in number of compartments successfully decompressed. This pilot study suggests utilization of VR technologies in trauma educational settings may be effective and considered as a cost-effective solution for training to supplement cadaveric based courses.