Development of a Surgical Safety Training Program and Checklist for Conversion during Robotic Partial Nephrectomies

Development of the European Laparoscopic Intermediate Urological Skills LUSs2 Curriculum: A Delphi Consensus from the European School of Urology

Background and objective

While programmes such as the European Basic Laparoscopic Urological Skills have made strides in foundational training, a significant gap exists for intermediate and advanced laparoscopy education. Our objective is to develop and validate the European laparoscopic intermediate urological skills (LUSs2) curriculum, which will establish uniformity in the training of urological laparoscopic procedures and facilitate proficiency among practitioners.

Methods

The study combines a literature review, cognitive task analysis development by a steering group, and a two-round Delphi survey involving international experts in urological laparoscopy. Consensus was defined as agreement of ≥70% among experts. The survey included statements on various laparoscopic procedures, assessed on a Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 9 (strongly agree).

Key findings and limitations

The Delphi process achieved consensus on 85% (235/275) of statements, indicating a strong agreement on the curriculum's content. Areas covered include renal hilum dissection, major vessel injury management, enucleation and renorrhaphy, vesicourethral anastomosis, and pyeloplasty. Limitations include the nonsystematic nature of the literature review and potential biases inherent in expert-based consensus methods.

Conclusions and clinical implications

The LUSs2 curriculum significantly advances the standardised training of laparoscopic urological skills. It offers a detailed, consensus-validated framework that addresses the need for uniformity in surgical education and aims to enhance surgical proficiency and patient care.

Patient summary

This study presents the development of a new standardised training curriculum for urological laparoscopic surgery. We intend this curriculum to improve the quality of surgical training and ensure high-quality patient care.

Employing the Aviation Model to Reduce Errors in Robotic Gynecological Surgery: A Narrative Review

The operating room is the environment where harm to the patient is most likely. Robotic surgery was listed as one of the top 10 health hazards as late as 2020. Taking inspiration from other fields of application, such as aeronautics, checklists have been increasingly implemented in medical practice over the years, becoming essential components of the operating theatre. In addition to checklists, simulation has taken on a fundamental importance in reducing errors. This paper aims to provide a narrative review to assess the importance of checklists and training in robotic surgery and how they improve the outcome. A comprehensive literature search from January 2000 to September 2023 was conducted. A total of 97 articles were included in the initial search. Eleven studies were deemed relevant and were considered eligible for full-text reading. Among these, ten studies focused on the analysis of training effectiveness. An article in our review assessed the benefits of introducing checklists in the operating room. Innovations created in aviation, such as checklists and simulation, have entered the medical field to prevent human error. Developing dedicated checklist and surgical teams, through theoretical and practical training, has become essential in modern medicine. Tools such as checklists, training, and simulation are among the best methods to reduce adverse medical events.

Emergent robot-to-open conversion - Multidisciplinary simulation training in crisis management

Anticipating and addressing unexpected intraoperative events and anatomies are some of the most challenging aspects of pediatric urologic practice; uncontrolled hemorrhage is one of the most anxiety provoking and precarious. The increasing application of the robotic platform in pediatric urology adds another layer of complexity as surgeons are not immediately at the patient's bedside. Should hemorrhage occur in robotic cases, clear communication and seamless coordination between members of the operating room team are paramount to optimize patient safety and minimize errors. This is especially important in pediatric cases for which the margin of error is narrow. Non-technical skills, including leadership, decision-making, situational awareness, stress management, and team-communication, become increasingly critical. While many programs have focused on robotic training, few prepare the operating room team and surgical trainees to manage these unforeseen, emergent intraoperative scenarios. This review discusses the role of a multidisciplinary, in situ robot-to-open conversion simulation program in addressing this educational gap, ways to approach establishing these programs, and potential barriers.

Assessment and application of non-technical skills in robotic-assisted surgery: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Undeniably, robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) has become very popular in recent decades, but it has introduced challenges to the workflow of the surgical team. Non-technical skills (NTS) have received less emphasis than technical skills in training and assessment. The systematic review aimed to update the evidence on the role of NTS in robotic surgery, specifically focusing on evaluating assessment tools and their utilisation in training and surgical education in robotic surgery.

METHODS

A systematic literature search of PubMed, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and EMBASE was conducted to identify primary articles on NTS in RAS. Messick's validity framework and the Modified Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument were utilised to evaluate the quality of the validity evidence of the abstracted articles.

RESULTS

Seventeen studies were eligible for the final analysis. Communication, environmental factors, anticipation and teamwork were key NTS for RAS. Team-related factors such as ambient noise and chatter, inconveniences due to repeated requests during the procedure and constraints due to poor design of the operating room may harm patient safety during RAS. Three novel rater-based scoring systems and one sensor-based method for assessing NTS in RAS were identified. Anticipation by the team to predict and execute the next move before an explicit verbal command improved the surgeon's situational awareness.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review highlighted the paucity of reporting on non-technical skills in robotic surgery with only three bespoke objective assessment tools being identified. Communication, environmental factors, anticipation, and teamwork are the key non-technical skills reported in robotic surgery, and further research is required to investigate their benefits to improve patient safety during robotic surgery.

Human Factors Integration in Robotic Surgery

OBJECTIVE

Using the example of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), we explore the methodological and practical challenges of technology integration in surgery, provide examples of evidence-based improvements, and discuss the importance of systems engineering and clinical human factors research and practice.

BACKGROUND

New operating room technologies offer potential benefits for patients and staff, yet also present challenges for physical, procedural, team, and organizational integration. Historically, RAS implementation has focused on establishing the technical skills of the surgeon on the console, and has not systematically addressed the new skills required for other team members, the use of the workspace, or the organizational changes.

RESULTS

Human factors studies of robotic surgery have demonstrated not just the effects of these hidden complexities on people, teams, processes, and proximal outcomes, but also have been able to analyze and explain in detail why they happen and offer methods to address them. We review studies on workload, communication, workflow, workspace, and coordination in robotic surgery, and then discuss the potential for improvement that these studies suggest within the wider healthcare system.

CONCLUSION

There is a growing need to understand and develop approaches to safety and quality improvement through human-systems integration at the frontline of care.Precis: The introduction of robotic surgery has exposed under-acknowledged complexities of introducing complex technology into operating rooms. We explore the methodological and practical challenges, provide examples of evidence-based improvements, and discuss the implications for systems engineering and clinical human factors research and practice.

Nerve-sparing Robot-assisted Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection: The Monoblock Technique

Background

Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) is a treatment option for men with stage 1 or 2 testis cancer and the standard of care for men with postchemotherapy retroperitoneal residual disease. Given the morbidity of RPLND, four important surgical modifications have been proposed: minimally invasive access, nerve-sparing resection, template resection, and en-bloc resection.

Objective

To describe the surgical steps and perioperative outcomes of robotic nerve-sparing unilateral template RPLND with en-bloc resection (roboRPLND-NS+).

Design, setting, and participants

From 2017 to 2019, five patients with suspicion of retroperitoneal metastatic testicular cancer on abdominopelvic computed tomography underwent roboRPLND-NS+ at a single referral center. All surgeries were carried out by a single surgeon who has performed more than 500 extended and more than 50 super-extended robot-assisted lymph node dissections.

Surgical procedure

A lateral transperitoneal robotic approach with a da Vinci Xi Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) in six-arm configuration was used. The sympathetic chains, postganglionic sympathetic fibers, and hypogastric plexus were preserved as much as possible to ensure a nerve-sparing procedure. The template borders consisted of the renal vein cranially, the ureter laterally, the interaortocaval space medially, the common iliac artery caudally, and the psoas muscle dorsally for the right and left modified RPLND templates. Lymph nodes and the surrounding fatty tissue were progressively resected from the common iliac vessels and the abdominal aorta using the split-and-roll technique, and all of the template tissue was resected as a single specimen. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded.

Measurements

Lymph node yield and perioperative and postoperative oncological and functional outcomes were measured.

Results and limitations

The median patient age was 38 yr (interquartile range [IQR] 32–41) and the median operative time was 274 min (IQR 238–280). Node metastases were pathologically confirmed in three patients. The median number of lymph nodes removed was 19 (IQR 18–21), and the median number of positive lymph nodes was 2 (IQR 1–3). No patient experienced intraoperative or postoperative complications. The postoperative hospital stay was either 3 or 4 d. Maintenance of antegrade ejaculation was achieved in all patients. After median follow-up of 15 mo (IQR 14–30), all patients were alive and no recurrence was observed. Limitations include the low number of patients and the single surgeon experience.

Conclusions

RoboRPLND-NS+ is a safe and feasible technique that allows removal of a high number of lymph nodes with good functional outcomes. Short-term survival outcomes were excellent, with no recurrences or deaths recorded.

Patient summary

We describe a feasible and safe robot-assisted surgical procedure for removal of lymph nodes in patients with testicular cancer. Our technique has potential to decrease the medical problems arising as side effects of the surgery while achieving good cancer control.

Work-system interventions in robotic-assisted surgery: a systematic review exploring the gap between challenges and solutions

BACKGROUND

The introduction of a robot into the surgical suite changes the dynamics of the work-system, creating new opportunities for both success and failure. An extensive amount of research has identified a range of barriers to safety and efficiency in Robotic Assisted Surgery (RAS), such as communication breakdowns, coordination failures, equipment issues, and technological malfunctions. However, there exists very few solutions to these barriers. The purpose of this review was to identify the gap between identified RAS work-system barriers and interventions developed to address those barriers.

METHODS

A search from three databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Ovid Medline) was conducted for literature discussing system-level interventions for RAS that were published between January 1, 1985 to March 17, 2020. Articles describing interventions for systems-level issues that did not involve technical skills in RAS were eligible for inclusion.

RESULTS

A total of 30 articles were included in the review. Only seven articles (23.33%) implemented and evaluated interventions, while the remaining 23 articles (76.67%) provided suggested interventions for issues in RAS. Major barriers identified included disruptions, ergonomic issues, safety and efficiency, communication, and non-technical skills. Common solutions involved team training, checklist development, and workspace redesign.

CONCLUSION

The review identified a significant gap between issues and solutions in RAS. While it is important to continue identifying how the complexities of RAS affect operating room (OR) and team dynamics, future work will need to address existing issues with interventions that have been tested and evaluated. In particular, improving RAS-associated non-technical skills, task management, and technology management may lead to improved OR dynamics associated with greater efficiency, reduced costs, and better systems-level outcomes.