AIM: To investigate the application and effect of virtual-reality surgery exercise in minimally invasive cataract surgery training for ophthalmology residents.

METHODS:Twenty ophthalmology residents with equal seniority who had completed 3a standardized residency training in the Affiliated Eye Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from 2019 to 2021 were prospectively enrolled. After passing the theoretical examination, residents were randomly divided into virtual surgery exercise(Dry-lab)group(n=10)and real animal surgery exercise(Wet-lab)group(n=10). Dry-lab and Wet-lab group residents performed training using the Eye SI surgical simulator and pig eye respectively. At the end of the training, the overall training effects of the residents in both groups were rated using the Eye SI surgical simulator and the real pig eye operation, and the module training effects of the residents in both groups were rated using the virtual surgical simulator. Furthermore, a questionnaire survey was used to objectively evaluate the two training methods.

RESULTS:Residents in Dry-lab group had significantly higher total scores on both operation assessments,simulator assessment and real pig eye operation assessment than Wet-lab group(88.03±1.34 vs 80.35±2.87, 87.50±3.03 vs 77.60±5.62, 88.57±1.89 vs 83.10±3.22, all P<0.01). The simulator module assessment results showed that the residents in Dry-lab group scored significantly better than Wet-lab group in terms of scores and completion time on each module(P<0.01). The questionnaire results showed that Dry-lab group rated better than Wet-lab group in terms of the novelty of training, the proximity to the real surgical experience, the degree of help to the improvement of microsurgery skills, the confidence to perform real surgery, and the overall satisfaction of surgical training(P<0.05).

CONCLUSION:Applying virtual-reality surgery exercise to cataract surgery skills training for ophthalmology residents can significantly improve the cataract skills, increase overall training satisfaction, and help residents enhance their confidence, psychological quality, decision-making, and processing ability during real surgery at the initial stage of practice. This provides a new standard and model for establishing a formal and standardized cataract surgery training system for ophthalmology residents.