J. R. Barrett1, M. K. Drezdzon1, A. Monawer1, A. P. O’Rourke1, J. Scarborough1 1University of Wisconsin,Acute Care Surgery,Madison, WISCONSIN, USA
Introduction:
The "teaching resident" role provides senior surgical trainees with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate their independence with the intraoperative conduct of certain procedures. It is not known, however, whether the practice of "two-resident" procedures impacts patient outcomes.
Methods:
A single-center retrospective review of 500 consecutive patients from May 2016 to December 2017 who underwent appendectomy with the University of Wisconsin Hospital system. The outcomes of "two resident" procedures was compared with those of procedures which included only one resident, after adjustment for patient- and procedure-related factors.
Results:
A total of 303 cases were performed with a single resident, 190 with two residents, and 7 cases were excluded that were performed with no resident present. There were no differences in the incidence of postoperative SSI (7.9% for two resident vs. 7.3% for one resident procedures, P = 0.80), prolonged operation (28.4% for two resident vs. 26.4% for one resident, P = 0.62), or conversion from laparoscopic to open (3.7% for two resident vs. 2.3% for one resident, P = 0.37) between groups, either before or after adjustment for other variables.
Conclusion:
Allowing senior residents to take junior residents through laparoscopic appendectomy procedures does not impact patient outcomes. Incorporation of this practice into the current entrustable professional activity (EPA) framework of surgical resident education is appropriate.