Telestration in the Teaching of Basic Surgical Skills: A Randomized Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how an affordable course using telestration with augmented reality can be compared to the traditional teaching of basic surgical skills. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized and blinded study. SETTING: Faculty of Medicine of Porto University. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Twenty medical students without any experience in basic surgical skills were randomized into two different learning groups: telestration and traditional teaching (on-site mentoring) groups. Five different types of sutures were taught: the single interrupted, the cruciate mattress, the horizontal mattress, the vertical mattress and the simple continuous sutures. Data was obtained on the time taken to learn each of the techniques and to perform each exercise without any support from the faculty, tension of the suture, quality of the procedure using a modified Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills and participants' answers to a Likert questionnaire in terms of their learning experience, confidence, and self-evaluation. RESULTS: Trainees in the telestration group were globally faster when performing independently (1393.40 [SD 288.89] vs 1679.00 [SD 328.22] seconds, p = 0.04) particularly during the cruciate mattress suture (235.50 [SD 61.81] vs 290.00 [SD 68.77] seconds, p = 0.05) and the simple continuous suture (492.40 [SD 87.49] vs 630.30 [SD 132.34] seconds, p = 0.01).Time needed for students to learn the procedures was similar between the groups. There were also no statistically significant differences in terms of the quality of the surgical gesture, tension of the suture, self-evaluation or confidence. CONCLUSIONS: A basic surgical skills course using telestration through a head-mounted device with augmented reality capabilities can be a viable alternative to traditional teaching, considering time and quality of the gesture. Though costs can discourage from using this technology in basic procedures, the use of free software may turn it into an affordable option in the context of distant learning.

Serum Sclerostin, Body Composition, and Sarcopenia in Hemodialysis Patients with Diabetes.

Sclerostin (Scl) is an osteoblast-inhibiting glycoprotein that is secreted mainly by osteocytes and is regulated by hormonal changes and skeletal loading. Decreased physical function and high serum Scl concentrations have been reported in chronic renal failure patients but little is known to date about the differences between diabetic and non-diabetic patients on hemodialysis who are susceptible to both sarcopenia and bone fragility. Objective.To determine the prevalence of sarcopenia and its association with serum Scl concentrations and metabolic parameters in 92 patients on hemodialysis. Anthropometric data and physical performance were evaluated in this study. Blood samples were collected for Scl, glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, calcium, phosphate, PTH, and 25 OH-vitamin D measurements. Lean mass was evaluated using multifrequency electro-bioimpedance after dialysis session. Results. Mean age was 63.3 ± 13.6 years, 63% of patients were male, and 44.6% had diabetes. Mean body mass index (BMI) was higher in diabetics (26.6 ± 5.2 vs. 24.1 ± 3.7; p=0.01) and there were no differences in gait speed and handgrip strength between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. A low skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) was identified in 65.2% of the participants, and among them 76.7% were men and 36.7% were diabetics. Mean serum Scl was 86.9 ± 39.0 pmol/L, which was higher in men (94.6 ± 41.7; p=0.017), in those individuals with low SMI (94.9 ± 40.7; p < 0.001), and in diabetics (97.2 ± 46.6; p < 0.003). After multivariate analysis and adjustments for potential confounders, high serum Scl was independently associated with low SMI and with the presence of diabetes. The following variables correlated positively with diabetes: blood pressure; BMI; waist circumference; waist/hip ratio; plasma glucose; serum Scl; and fat mass. Conclusions. We found higher serum Scl concentrations in hemodialysis patients with diabetes and these were inversely related to muscle mass.