Clinical trial NCT06917755: The Impact of Immersive Virtual Reality Training in Thyroid Surgery
Official title: The Impact of Immersive Virtual Reality Training in Thyroid Surgery: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Virtual Reality Simulation
Thyroid Surgery
Keywords: Endocrine Surgery
Thyroid Surgery
Virtual Reality
Training
Lead sponsor: G.Gennimatas General Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2025-04-08
Enrollment: 12
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: Up to this date, there have been no reports on virtual reality (VR) training in thyroid surgery. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of VR training in residents' education.

Investigators intend to include general surgery residents in the trial, subgrouped in a VR training group and another one with traditional learning, utilizing a technical textbook as a control. For the purpose of this study, a commercial available VR mask will be given for training in the VR group. Randomization will be used to secure balance in the distribution of residents according to their experience. The task which will be examined include surgical steps from neck incision up to the placement of the C-IONM electrode and will be evaluated by a blinded FEBS certified endocrine surgeon in the operating theatre.

Training superiority will be assessed by the outcome measures of Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) score, need for the main surgeon to intervene (NTI), verbal answers and time to task completion. Participants will complete questionnaires regarding satisfaction of the whole educational process.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Residents of the 2nd Surgical Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
* Residents who have completed their 1st year of training programm.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Disagreement of participants' randomisation
* Prolonged surgical time of completion
* Participant's experience beyond the included limits
* Participants who are completely incapable of using VR devices or have specific helath restrictions of using these
* Patients with complex thyroid disease such as recurrent disease, concominant primary hyperparathyroidism, lymph node disease or metastasis, Graves disease and intrathoracic goiter

Primary outcomes:
measure: OSATS Score
timeFrame: From enrollment to the end of assesment of the FEBS certicied surgeon at 1 day
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Thessaloniki
country: Greece
facility: "Georgios Gennimatas" General Hospital of Thessaloniki
Study officials:
affiliation: 2nd Surgical Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
name: Ioannis Koutelidakis, Professor of Surgery
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References:
citation: Ochs V, Saad B, Taha-Mehlitz S, Staubli S, Neumann K, Fischer L, Honaker MD, Lamm S, Rosenberg R, Taha A, Cattin PC. An analysis of virtual reality in abdominal surgery-A scoping review. Int J Med Robot. 2024 Feb;20(1):e2623. doi: 10.1002/rcs.2623.
citation: Rizzetto F, Bernareggi A, Rantas S, Vanzulli A, Vertemati M. Immersive Virtual Reality in surgery and medical education: Diving into the future. Am J Surg. 2020 Oct;220(4):856-857. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2020.04.033. Epub 2020 Apr 30. No abstract available.
citation: Long AS, Almeida MN, Chong L, Prsic A. Live Virtual Surgery and Virtual Reality in Surgery: Potential Applications in Hand Surgery Education. J Hand Surg Am. 2023 May;48(5):499-505. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2023.01.004. Epub 2023 Feb 9.
citation: Portelli M, Bianco SF, Bezzina T, Abela JE. Virtual reality training compared with apprenticeship training in laparoscopic surgery: a meta-analysis. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2020 Nov;102(9):672-684. doi: 10.1308/rcsann.2020.0178. Epub 2020 Aug 21.
citation: Nassar AK, Al-Manaseer F, Knowlton LM, Tuma F. Virtual reality (VR) as a simulation modality for technical skills acquisition. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2021 Oct 27;71:102945. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2021.102945. eCollection 2021 Nov.
citation: Ntakakis G, Plomariti C, Frantzidis C, Antoniou PE, Bamidis PD, Tsoulfas G. Exploring the use of virtual reality in surgical education. World J Transplant. 2023 Feb 18;13(2):36-43. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v13.i2.36.
citation: Mishra R, Narayanan MDK, Umana GE, Montemurro N, Chaurasia B, Deora H. Virtual Reality in Neurosurgery: Beyond Neurosurgical Planning. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 2;19(3):1719. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031719.
citation: Falguiere A, LeGruiec C, Herry H, Genest-Beucher S, Dessus JM, Boisrame S. Contribution of virtual reality in oral surgery: A literature review. J Stomatol Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2021 Sep;122(4):405-410. doi: 10.1016/j.jormas.2021.02.004. Epub 2021 Feb 18.
citation: Arjomandi Rad A, Vardanyan R, Thavarajasingam SG, Zubarevich A, Van den Eynde J, Sa MPBO, Zhigalov K, Sardiari Nia P, Ruhparwar A, Weymann A. Extended, virtual and augmented reality in thoracic surgery: a systematic review. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2022 Jan 18;34(2):201-211. doi: 10.1093/icvts/ivab241.
citation: Verhey JT, Haglin JM, Verhey EM, Hartigan DE. Virtual, augmented, and mixed reality applications in orthopedic surgery. Int J Med Robot. 2020 Apr;16(2):e2067. doi: 10.1002/rcs.2067. Epub 2020 Feb 6.
citation: Lohre R, Bois AJ, Athwal GS, Goel DP; Canadian Shoulder and Elbow Society (CSES). Improved Complex Skill Acquisition by Immersive Virtual Reality Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2020 Mar 18;102(6):e26. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.19.00982.
citation: Lohre R, Bois AJ, Pollock JW, Lapner P, McIlquham K, Athwal GS, Goel DP. Effectiveness of Immersive Virtual Reality on Orthopedic Surgical Skills and Knowledge Acquisition Among Senior Surgical Residents: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Dec 1;3(12):e2031217. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.31217.