Optometric Testing in the Laparoscopic Surgeon

Teaching and credentialing for endoscopic surgery are highly desirable, but they used instructional methods and testing criteria that have not been scientifically validated. Furthermore, it is unclear whether performing inanimate endosurgical exercises in a repetitive manner is the most efficient means of developing skills. Optometric testing in elite athletes is a quantifiable method of assessing specific tasks involving hand-eye coordination. We hypothesized that such methods of testing and improving athletic performance are applicable to evaluating and teaching endoscopic surgery skills. The first phase of this research was to perform a wide range of 12 tests in 53 laparoscopic surgeons to determine which tests correlate with superior skill. Results indicated that contrast sensitivity (the ability to discriminate fine detail), speed of recognition, rapid eye tracking (fine ocular motor skill), near-far focus (ability to accommodate), and eye-hand cross-dominance all correlated with endoscopic skill. The implications of these and other findings should be explored further to improve teaching endoscopic surgery.