Home programme for acquisition and maintenance of Microsurgical Skills during the Covid-19 Outbreak

Gallardo, Federico Carlos; Clara, Martin; Aylen Andrea, Targa Garcia; Luis, Bustamante Jorge; Nuñez, Maximiliano; Enrique, Feldman Santiago

Abstract Background During the current global crisis unleashed by SARS-COV-2 outbreak, the surgical departments have considerably reduced the amount of elective surgeries. This leads to a less amount of time in surgical room to develop and improve the surgical skills of the residents. In this study we developed a training program to obtain and maintain microsurgical skills at home, using a smartphone camera and low cost materials, affordable for everyone. Methods Using as a magnification device, a smartphone camera, six participants performed five exercises (colouring grids, grouping colors, unraveling of a gauze, knots with suture threads, Hanoi tower), both with the dominant and the non-dominant hand, during 4 weeks. We compared the performance at the beginning and at the end of the training process. Each participant filled out an anonymous survey. Results When we compared the performance at the beginning and at the end of the training process we have found significant improvements (P = 0.05) with the dominant as well as the non-dominant hand in all the exercises. All the participants were satisfied or very satisfied with the definition of the objectives of the training process, material availability, the exercises performed, the choice of the time to train and general satisfaction with the training program. Conclusion We developed a microsurgical skills training program to be performed at home, which can be easily reproduced. It allowed residents to improve the manual coordination skills, was regarded as a feasible adjunt for ongoing training for surgical residents.