Surgical Airways: Resident Training Using a Novel 3D Printed Model

Video Presentation

Author:

Alison Haruta, General Surgery, UW Seattle

Abstract:

Surgical airway codes are emergent, life or death situations where a patient cannot be intubated and needs an airway established. At some of our institutions, junior residents are first call for these codes and there is often not time to wait for a more senior person to arrive. Despite this responsibility, we receive no formal training in this procedure as junior residents. We created a teaching curriculum for emergent cricothyroidotomies with a didactic portion and a hands on session utilizing a 3D printed model of upper airway anatomy. We aimed to evaluate how these sessions influenced resident subjective comfort level with the procedure as well as objective knowledge base of the anatomy and steps. We taught a group of junior residents (R3 and below) and assessed efficacy of the module using a pre and post module survey/quiz and analyzed learners against themselves. We demonstrated an increase in both reported comfort with surgical airways as well as an increase in correctly answered quiz questions regarding about the steps of the procedure, anatomy, indications, and equipment needed. They were also able to lead each other through the steps using the hand son models. As the use of 3D printing becomes more available, other disciplines can develop custom models for practice of procedures, exam skills, etc. as we demonstrated a positive impact on resident learning of these hands on models which are inexpensive to make and are reusable.

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Comments

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