Development of an assessment tool for laparoscopic colectomy: The protocol of the ASLAC study

• Published in: Annals of Cancer Research and Therapy Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 28 - 30
• Main Authors: Nakayama, Yujiro, Kawamura, Hidetaka, Kobayashi, Hiroshi, Todate, Yukitoshi, Takano, Yoshinao, Matsunaga, Rie, Miyakawa, Teppei, Honda, Michitaka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Japanese Society of Strategies for Cancer Research and Therapy 17.01.2019
• Subjects: colorectal cancer; Delphi method; laparoscopic right hemicolectomy; laparoscopic sigmoidectomy; laparoscopic surgery
• ISSN: 1344-6835; 1880-5469
• DOI: 10.4993/acrt.27.28

Introduction: Laparoscopic colorectal surgery (LCS) is considered an advanced minimally invasive procedure. Tools for assessing surgeon's skills in laparoscopic surgery, such as laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair and laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery, have been developed. However, no standardized training system has yet been established for the procedures of LCS. If a reliable assessment tool for trainees in LCS were made available, it would prove that is useful for establishing an educational system for LCS training. Trainee surgeons would then be able to learn the critical steps and important points of LCS procedures using this assessment tool. We therefore launched the “Development of an ASsessment tool for LAparoscopic Colectomy” (ASLAC) project to develop a reliable assessment tool for laparoscopic sigmoidectomy and right hemicolectomy.Materials and Methods: We developed tools for two procedures: a laparoscopic sigmoidectomy and a laparoscopic right hemicolectomy. Our study was conducted in two steps: a cognitive task analysis (CTA) and the Delphi method (first and second round). The consensus was defined in advance using Cronbach's alpha ≥0.8 according to a global Delphi consensus study on defining and measuring the quality of surgical training. Subtasks for which 70% of experts cited a value of ≥4 (agree or strongly agree) were used as new tools. Ten expert surgeons (considered ‘qualified surgeons’ by the Endoscopic Surgical Skill Qualification System in Japan) were recruited as participants for the Delphi method.