Simulhand: Artificial Hand Intended for Microsurgical Anastomoses Training in Digital Replantations

Introduction: The use of surgical simulation and objective assessment methods are increasing in microsurgery due to the improvements in the learning phase.

Nowadays, European legislation requires a reduction of experimental animals used for training.

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the educational ability of the simulator Simulhand®, which is designed for microsurgical anastomoses training.

Methodology and Material: Ten veterinary surgeons with no experience in microsurgery were divided randomly into two groups. They received theoretical lectures and performed practices for 90 minutes on a validated training card. Subsequently, the control group continued 4 hours using the training card, while the other group utilized the simulator Simulhand®.

Then, both groups performed two end-to-end anastomoses on the carotid arteries of a Wistar rat. These anastomoses were evaluated using a validated rating scale. The patency and the time spent for each anastomosis were observed. These data were then compared.

The surgeons who used the simulator, filled a survey to evaluate its quality.

Results: The survey mean scores obtained were between 3 to 4’2 on a Likert scale (1-5) where 5 was the highest rating.

After comparing the results of both groups, statistically significant differences were not found for any of the studied variables (time, patency and global rating scale).

Conclusions: Simulhand® has a great interest for surgeons who used it as the initial training method for microsurgical anastomosis learning.

It is necessary to extend the study to obtain statistically significant differences to objectively validate the educational ability of the simulator