Remote Assessment of Real-World Surgical Safety Checklist Performance Using the OR Black Box: A Multi-Institutional Evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Large-scale evaluation of surgical safety checklist performance has been limited by the need for direct observation. The operating room (OR) Black Box is a multichannel surgical data capture platform that may allow for the holistic evaluation of checklist performance at scale. STUDY DESIGN: In this retrospective cohort study, data from 7 North American academic medical centers using the OR Black Box were collected between August 2020 and January 2022. All cases captured during this period were analyzed. Measures of checklist compliance, team engagement, and quality of checklist content review were investigated. RESULTS: Data from 7,243 surgical procedures were evaluated. A time-out was performed during most surgical procedures (98.4%, n = 7,127), whereas a debrief was performed during 62.3% (n = 4,510) of procedures. The mean percentage of OR staff who paused and participated during the time-out and debrief was 75.5% (SD 25.1%) and 54.6% (SD 36.4%), respectively. A team introduction (performed 42.6% of the time) was associated with more prompts completed (31.3% vs 18.7%, p < 0.001), a higher engagement score (0.90 vs 0.86, p < 0.001), and a higher percentage of team members who ceased other activities (80.3% vs 72%, p < 0.001) during the time-out. CONCLUSIONS: Remote assessment using OR Black Box data provides useful insight into surgical safety checklist performance. Many items included in the time-out and debrief were not routinely discussed. Completion of a team introduction was associated with improved time-out performance. There is potential to use OR Black Box metrics to improve intraoperative process measures.

Assessing endovascular team performances in a hybrid room using the Black Box system: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The hybrid room (HR) is a complex, high-risk environment, requiring teams (surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, technologists) to master various skills, including the 'As Low As Reasonably Achievable' principle of radiation safety. This prospective single center cohort reports the first use of the Operating Room Black Box (ORBB) in a HR. This medical data recording system captures procedural and audio-visual data to facilitate structured team performance analysis. METHODS: Patients planned for endovascular repair of an infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (EVAR) or treatment of symptomatic iliac-femoral-popliteal atherosclerotic disease (Peripheral Vascular Interventions or PVI) were included. Validated measures and established assessment tools were used to assess (non-)technical skills, radiation safety performance and environmental distractions. RESULTS: Six EVAR and sixteen PVI procedures were captured. Technical performance for one EVAR was rated 19/35 on the procedure-specific scale, below the 'acceptable' score of 21. Technical skills were rated above acceptable in all PVI procedures. Shared decision making and leadership were rated highly in 12/22 cases, whereas surgical communication and nurses' task management were rated low in 14/22 cases. Team members rarely stepped back from the C-arm during digital subtraction angiography. Radiation safety behavior was scored below 'acceptable' in 14/22 cases. A median (interquartile range) number of 12 (6-23) auditory distractions was observed per procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The ORBB facilitates holistic workplace-based assessment of endovascular performance in a HR by combining objective assessment parameters and rating scale-based evaluations. Strengths and weaknesses were identified in team members' (non-)technical and radiation safety practices. This technology has the potential to improve vascular surgical practice, though human input remains crucial. (NCT04854278).

Nontechnical Skill Assessment of the Collective Surgical Team Using the Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons (NOTSS) System.

OBJECTIVE: To validate the Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons (NOTSS) system for assessment of the collective surgical teams' nontechnical skills after observing recordings of actual OR environment. BACKGROUND: The NOTSS system is a widely accepted tool to measure nontechnical skills of individual surgeons, and has mostly been used in the simulated setting. Surgical procedures are rarely performed by a single surgeon, but by a surgical team of attending surgeons, surgical assistants, and surgical trainees. Therefore, assessment of nontechnical skills may benefit from holistic assessment of the collective surgical teams. METHODS: Five trained participants assessed surgical team and attending surgeon using the NOTSS system after watching ten 20-minute long videos obtained from live OR. A set of reference ratings was provided by a multidisciplinary expert committee. We performed analyses to assess system sensitivity; examine inter-rater reliability of ratings; investigate concurrent construct validity; and assess feasibility and acceptability of using the NOTSS system to measure surgical team performance. RESULTS: There was adequate system sensitivity when comparing participants' and reference ratings. Inter-rater reliability among the participants' ratings was good except for decision-making category. The level of inter-rater reliability was similar when rating teams and attending surgeons. There was strong positive correlation between teams' and attending surgeons' NOTSS ratings at category [Pearson coefficient 0.86, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.82-0.89] and element levels (0.83, 95% CI 0.80-0.85), demonstrating evidence of concurrent construct validity. The participants felt that the use of NOTSS system to measure teams' nontechnical skills was acceptable and feasible to a fair extent. CONCLUSION: The NOTSS system, although developed for assessment of individual surgeons, is a useful tool for observing and rating surgical teams.

System Factors Affecting Intraoperative Risk and Resilience: Applying a Novel Integrated Approach to Study Surgical Performance and Patient Safety.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and categorize system factors in complex laparoscopic surgery that have the potential to either threaten patient safety or support system resilience. BACKGROUND: The operating room is a uniquely complex sociotechnical work system wherein surgical successes prevail despite pervasive safety threats. Holistically characterizing intraoperative factors that thus support system resilience in addition to those that threaten patient safety using contextual methodologies is critical for optimizing surgical safety overall. METHOD: In this prospective descriptive interdisciplinary study, 19 audio/video recordings of complex laparoscopic general surgical procedures were directly observed and transcribed. Using a qualitative systems-based approach, intraoperative human factors with the potential to impact patient safety, either as a safety threat or as a support for resilience, were identified. Adverse events were further assessed for shared threats and supports. Data collection was guided by the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety 2.0 work system model. RESULTS: A total of 1083 relevant observations were made over 39.8 hours of operative time, enabling the identification of 79 distinct safety threats and 67 resilience supports within the surgical system. Safety threats associated with the physical environment, tasks, organization, and equipment were prevalent and observed in equal measure, whereas supports for resilience were predominantly attributed to clinician behaviors, including proactive team management and skills coaching. Two subclinical adverse events were identified; shared safety threats included suboptimal technology design, whereas shared resilience supports included calm clinician behavior and redundant intraoperative resourcing. CONCLUSIONS: Safety threats and resilience supports were found to be systematic in the surgical setting. Identified safety threats should be prioritized for remediation, and clinician behaviors that contribute to fostering resilience should be valued and protected.

Mental practice enhances surgical technical skills: a randomized controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of mental practice on surgical performance. BACKGROUND: Increasing concerns for patient safety have highlighted a need for alternative training strategies outside the operating room. Mental practice (MP), "the cognitive rehearsal of a task before performance," has been successful in sport and music to enhance skill. This study investigates whether MP enhances performance in laparoscopic surgery. METHODS: After baseline skills testing, 20 novice surgeons underwent training on an evidence-based virtual reality curriculum. After randomization using the closed envelope technique, all participants performed 5 Virtual Reality (VR) laparoscopic cholecystectomies (LC). Mental practice participants performed 30 minutes of MP before each LC; control participants viewed an online lecture. Technical performance was assessed using video Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills-based global ratings scale (scored from 7 to 35). Mental imagery was assessed using a previously validated Mental Imagery Questionnaire. RESULTS: Eighteen participants completed the study. There were no intergroup differences in baseline technical ability. Learning curves were demonstrated for both MP and control groups. Mental practice was superior to control (global ratings) for the first LC (median 20 vs 15, P = 0.005), second LC (20.5 vs 13.5, P = 0.001), third LC (24 vs 15.5, P < 0.001), fourth LC (25.5 vs 15.5, P < 0.001) and the fifth LC (27.5 vs 19.5, P = 0.00). The imagery for the MP group was also significantly superior to the control group across all sessions (P < 0.05). Improved imagery significantly correlated with better quality of performance (ρ 0.51­0.62, Ps < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first randomized controlled study to show that MP enhances the quality of performance based on VR laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This may be a time- and cost-effective strategy to augment traditional training in the OR thus potentially improving patient care.

[Diagnostic laparoscopy under local anaesthesia]. / Diagnostisk laparoskopi under lokal anaestesi.

Laparoscopy under local anaesthesia (LULA) is a safe, feasible and well-tolerated procedure. LULA has been successfully used for such outpatient gynaecological procedures as diagnosis of chronic pelvic pain and sterilisation. Single studies have indicated that LULA can be performed for diagnosis of possible intra-abdominal catastrophe in ICU patients, appendectomy and preperitoneal inguinal hernia repair. LULA in abdominal surgery for diagnosis of conditions presenting with acute lower abdominal pain is being introduced at our institution. This paper describes the possible applications of LULA in current practice as well as the technical aspects of the procedure.