Better Teamwork Leads to Better Outcomes in the OR

Surgery has often been referred to as a team sport. The role of the surgeon is undoubtedly critical but so is the role of the entire team in ensuring patient safety and positive outcomes.

This is especially true in robotic surgery where the main surgeon is no longer at the patient’s side but is seated at a robotic console outside the operative field. The console-side surgeon now relies heavily on a first assistant or patient-side surgeon. The first assistant is a skilled laparoscopic surgeon whose prime objective is to work as a team with the robotic surgeon to maximize efficiency during the procedure.

A recent study titled, “Impact of Assistant Surgeon on Outcomes in Robotic Surgery,” by Dr. Rishi Nayyar, et al., published in the Indian Journal of Urology found that, “with increasing experience of patient-side surgeon and associated console surgeon, who form a consistent surgical team, the mean operative time for all robotic procedures shows a consistent trend of reduction across all surgical types.” (Click Here to Access the Full Study)

Typically, better outcomes in robotic surgery are associated with only the console-surgeon. According to Dr. Nayyar’s study, there is no existing objective evidence regarding the impact on outcomes with the experience of the assistant surgeon in robot-assisted surgery. Therefore, the goal of this recent study was to objectively verify the hypothesis that the experience of patient-side assistant in robotic surgery affects intraoperative outcomes.

During the study, a total of 100 cases of robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty were analyzed and on comparing outcomes between the 1st and 2nd halves of the assistant experience, the mean operative time reduced from 102.50 min to 82.80 min (P = 0.001) and mean blood loss reduced from 72.00 ml to 63.90 ml (P = 0.91). (See table below)

As the study suggests, a console-surgeon and first assistant to who work consistently together make a better team and positively influence the outcome of the procedure. Mimic’s Xperience Team Trainer (XTT) was developed specifically for this reason.

The XTT simulates the patient-side and connects with the dV-Trainer that simulates the console side, thereby allowing both the console and the patient-side surgeons to train in tandem with virtual reality simulators. Routine tasks are executed crisply and efficiently while also working on communication between both surgeons.

A 2015 study done by Dr. Jacques Hubert, et al., published in Surgical Endoscopy confirmed face, content, construct, and concurrent validity of the Xperience Team Trainer as an assessment tool of robotic surgery bed-assistance skills for the patient-side surgeon.

This study also emphasized the importance of teamwork between the patient-side and console-side surgeon in robotic surgery, which may change the paradigm of robotic surgery training in the near future. To read a past post about this study, click here.

Nayyar R, Yadav S, Singh P, Dogra PN. Impact of assistant surgeon on outcomes in robotic surgery. Indian J Urol 2016;32:204-9