[FESS and surgical training: what are the problems?].

BACKGROUND: The literature lacks studies analyzing the specific problems of colleagues in the surgical training for FESS. The presented date can help to systematically improve the training.
METHODS: The participants of the 11 (th) Munich FESS Course were asked about problems occurring during dissection and about their opinion how the training could be improved.
RESULTS: Handling of instruments and endocopes was only a problem for participants without any experience in FESS. The majority of the participants, independently from their training level, considered infundibulotomy and anterior ethmoidectomy the easiest dissection steps. Participants with and without FESS experience regarded a more extensive study of anatomy in the forefront as the most important toehold in the improvement of the surgical training. Virtually all participants stated that the course improved their anatomical knowledge, their confidence on the patient, and their surgical skills.
CONCLUSIONS: FESS dissection courses are well accepted and considered as beneficial by surgical trainees. An exhaustive private study of anatomy is essential. For beginners with FESS, infundibulotomies and anterior ethmoidectomies should preferentially be chosen. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.