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Teaching Neuraxial Ultrasonography With a Virtual Reality Simulator of Spine

Teaching Neuraxial Ultrasonography With a Virtual Reality Simulator of Spine: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05874609
Enrollment
46
Registered
2023-05-25
Start date
2023-06-15
Completion date
2023-06-30
Last updated
2023-05-25

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Neuraxial Ultrasonography

Keywords

ultrasound-guided, neuraxial anesthesia, virtual reality

Brief summary

As one of the most extensively practiced regional block, neuraxial anesthesia is the basic skill for anesthesiologist to acquire. Recently, virtual reality (VR) has been proposed as a new simulation training method to enhance medical education. The aim of our study is to evaluate the practical skills of ultrasound scan and the satisfaction of students who undergo training using VR versus traditional didactic lecture.

Detailed description

This is a prospective, single-center, randomized control trial to evaluate the performance of spine ultrasound scan after different training methods. Participants were randomly divided into two groups receiving different training methods: VR spine simulator or traditional didactic teaching. After the training, participants were required to perform a preprocedural spine ultrasound scan on healthy volunteers using the stepwise technique taught in the didactic teaching session. The participants needed to acquire three key ultrasound views during the scan and recognize the anatomic structures in three ultrasound views.

Interventions

OTHERTeaching with VR spine simulator

The participants spent 30 minutes with the VR spine simulator after receiving the didactic teaching session. The learning objective with the VR simulator is to review the 3D lumbar spine anatomic model,learn the sonoanatomy presented by a dynamic ultrasound scan of the sagittal and transverse plane, and practice a preprocedural ultrasound scan.

OTHERTraditional didactic teaching

A 30-min traditional didactic teaching session of spine ultrasonography. This session was consisted of general spine anatomy, sonographic technique and sonoanatomy, description of five key spine ultrasonographic views (transverse spinous process view, transverse interlaminar view, parasagittal oblique interlaminar view, parasagittal articular process view, parasagittal transverse process view), and a stepwise technique of preprocedural lumbar spine scan

Sponsors

Peking Union Medical College Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* anesthesia residents in our department

Exclusion criteria

* having previous experience of spine ultrasonography training * having previous experience of spine ultrasound scan.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Composite learning scoreUp to 12 hours after ultrasound scan is finishedEvaluating the self-assessed theoretical knowledge (10 points), self-assessed practical skills (20 points), self-assessed satisfaction (10 points) and willingness to applicate the technique in future practice (10 points).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Time of scanUp to 1 hour after ultrasound scan beginsDefined as the time from the probe contacting the skin to acquiring the three key ultrasound views
Rate of anatomic structures recognitionUp to 12 hours after ultrasound scan is finishedThe correct rate of recognition among 12 anatomic structures (posterior complex, anterior complex, lamina and erector spinae in the parasagittal oblique interlaminar view, spinous process, lamina and erector spinae transverse spinous view, articular process, transverse process, posterior complex, anterior complex and spinal canal in the transverse interlaminar view)
Accuracy of depth measurement to the posterior complexUp to 12 hours after ultrasound scan is finishedThe measurement was deemed correct if the error was less than 0.5cm

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026