title: Impact of an assistant on the technical skills of the primary operator in superficial femoral artery angioplasty.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the impact of an assistant on the technical skills of the operator performing superficial femoral artery (SFA) angioplasty on the vascular intervention simulation trainer (VIST) simulator.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight experts performed 2 SFA angioplasties each on the VIST. Four experts had an assistant available. Experts' video recordings were blindly evaluated using global and procedural rating scales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Experts with assistants scored higher than the controls in the first: global rating scale (47.8 ± 0.5 vs 33.5 ± 5.1, P = .01); procedural rating scale (94.3 ± 2.2 vs 89 ± 2.5, P = .02) and the second procedure: global rating scale (47.8 ± 0.5 vs 38 ± 7, P = .03); procedural rating scale (95.3 ± 0.5 vs 89.5 ± 2.4, P = .02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of an assistant had a positive influence on the technical skills of the operator performing SFA angioplasty on the VIST simulator.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Training, Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland. hazemhseino@rcsi.ie
authors.forename: Hazem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hseino
authors.forename: Emmeline
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nugent
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cantwell
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Given
authors.forename: Arnold D K
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Daragh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moneley
mesh_terms: D017130:Angioplasty; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005263:Femoral Artery; D006801:Humans; D009048:Motor Skills; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D010823:Physician Assistants; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014741:Video Recording