Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
The impact of surgery resident training on the duration of tibial plateau leveling osteotomy surgery.
- Journal:
- Veterinary surgery : VS
- Year:
- 2024
- Authors:
- Niida, Atsushi et al.
- Affiliation:
- School of Veterinary Medicine · United States
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
This study looked at how the training of surgery residents affects the time it takes to perform a specific knee surgery called tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) in dogs. Researchers reviewed the medical records of 256 dogs that had this surgery between August 2019 and August 2022. They found that surgeries done by residents took about 54% longer than those done by experienced faculty surgeons. First-year residents took the longest, while second- and third-year residents had similar surgery times. Overall, the study concluded that while surgery times improved after the first year of training, they did not get shorter in the later years.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of surgery resident training on surgery duration in tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) and evaluate whether surgery duration differs with each year of residency training. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective medical record review. ANIMALS: A total of 256 client-owned dogs underwent TPLO. METHODS: Records of dogs that underwent TPLO between August 2019 and August 2022 were reviewed. The effects of the surgeon (faculty/resident) and the procedure (arthrotomy/arthroscopy) on TPLO surgery duration were examined with an analysis of variance, and geometric least squares means (GLSM) were compared. A linear mixed effects model (LMM) was fitted to quantify fixed and random effects. RESULTS: Four faculty surgeons performed 74 (29%) TPLOs, while 10 residents performed 182 (71%) TPLOs under the direct supervision of a faculty surgeon. All TPLOs were conducted with arthrotomy (109; 43%) or arthroscopy (147; 57%). Overall, residents (GLSM, 153 min) required 54% more surgery duration than faculty surgeons (GLSM, 99 min). Surgery duration among first-year residents (GLSM, 170 min) was 15% longer than second- (GLSM, 148 min) and third-year (GLSM, 147 min) residents, whereas the duration did not differ statistically between second- and third-year residents. Arthroscopy, meniscal tear treatment, surgery on the right stifle, and increasing patient weight were also associated with longer surgery duration. CONCLUSION: The duration of TPLO surgery significantly decreased after the first year of residency, but did not decrease afterward. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The results will aid with resource allocation, curricula planning, and cost management associated with resident training.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38764197/