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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Plast Surg 2023; 56(05): 421-425
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1772454
Original Article

Preoperative Preparatory Talk (PPT): Developing Operative Expertise of Plastic Surgery Trainees by Three Rounds of Preceptor-Trainee Discussions

Madhubari Vathulya
1   Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, AIIMS, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
,
Arush Pasricha 
1   Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, AIIMS, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
,
Devi Prasad Mohapatra 
2   Department of Plastic Surgery, JIMPER, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Praveen A. Jayaprakash
3   Department of Plastic Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Rajagiri Hospital, Kochi, Kerala, India
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Abstract

Background Plastic surgery training requires the trainee to assist in surgeries to improve their on-table decision making and hone their surgical skills, but this results in an increased risk of intraoperative complications and increased operative time. It is important to have a training method that orients the trainee toward the surgery to ensure patient safety.

Materials and Methods A training method called preoperative preparatory talk (PPT) was devised in which the preceptor orients the trainee toward the planned surgery in three phases. Comparison and statistical analysis of mean operative times of four stages of free flap surgeries after PPT and without PPT were done. Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skill (OSATS) scores of surgical trainees were also documented for surgeries done with and without PPT and statistical analysis was done for comparing these scores.

Results Statistical analysis via unpaired t-test confirmed that after applying PPT, there was a significant decrease in time taken in three out of four stages of free flap surgeries: flap planning and harvesting, recipient site preparation and vessel dissection, and flap division and partial inset. Trainees were found to be better oriented toward the surgery which resulted in a better performance on table that was confirmed by statistical analysis of OSATS score via unpaired t-test.

Conclusion PPT ensures better learning for the resident and improves patient safety because of better orientation of the operating team toward the procedure and operating steps. This reduces the operative time of free flap surgeries. We recommend this training method to be incorporated in plastic surgery training programs.

Keywords

plastic surgery - training - patient safety - free flap


Publication History

Article published online:
28 August 2023

© 2023. Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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