Warm-up improves surgical performance.(Gynecology)

NEW YORK -- It pays to warm up before performing laparoscopic surgery. Ann Do, M.D., said in a poster presentation at an international congress of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.

Unlike athletes, musicians, or pilots who practice before an actual performance, surgical residents typically acquire their skills entirely in the operating room. This study of 12 ob.gyn. residents (3 from each of postgraduate years 1-4) and 12 third-year medical students suggests that even those who have had some training can benefit from a bit of practice before stepping up to a "real-live" patient, said Dr. Do of Brooklyn Hospital Center, New York.

Using a "poor-man's" laparoscopy simulator, the trainees were given 10 minutes to transfer 30 multivitamin pills from a 10-mm petri dish to a glass bud vase with a neck diameter of 2.5 cm, using a 5-mm grasper inserted through a port in a large plastic basin. A camera was inserted through another port, and the exercises were conducted via remote video visualization. Each subject then performed a follow-up exercise 5 minutes later.

The exercise clearly benefited both the residents and the medical students, none ...