Perception of NOTES among health care workers and medical students.
Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is an experimental surgical approach. Several intra-abdominal procedures have been successfully performed in animals and humans although the long-term safety is still unknown. Potential advantages are reduction of wound-related complications, reduced postoperative pain, improved cosmesis, and short recovery time. This study aimed to measure the overall perception among health care workers and medical students.


METHODS
A brief 9-item survey was created to measure the perception among health care workers and medical students. A total of 120 surveys were completed.


RESULTS
Overall, 15% had a favorable perception, 29% had an unfavorable perception, and 55% were undecided. A total of 40% considered the possibility of avoiding wound-related complications the most appealing advantage, whereas 54% cited unknown safety as the most concerning possible disadvantage. Current occupation, previous knowledge, and affiliation to the surgical department influenced the overall perception.


CONCLUSIONS
Most health care workers and medical students in our sample were undecided in their perception of NOTES.
Omana
Juan Javier
JJ
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA. juanomana@yahoo.com
Mistry
Sheetal
S
Herron
Daniel
D
Kini
Subhash
S
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000523:psychology*; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000523:psychology; D010465:Perception; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*