title: Play to become a surgeon: impact of Nintendo Wii training on laparoscopic skills.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Video-games have become an integral part of the new multimedia culture. Several studies assessed video-gaming enhancement of spatial attention and eye-hand coordination. Considering the technical difficulty of laparoscopic procedures, legal issues and time limitations, the validation of appropriate training even outside of the operating rooms is ongoing. We investigated the influence of a four-week structured Nintendo® Wii™ training on laparoscopic skills by analyzing performance metrics with a validated simulator (Lap Mentor™, Simbionix™).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We performed a prospective randomized study on 42 post-graduate I-II year residents in General, Vascular and Endoscopic Surgery. All participants were tested on a validated laparoscopic simulator and then randomized to group 1 (Controls, no training with the Nintendo® Wii™), and group 2 (training with the Nintendo® Wii™) with 21 subjects in each group, according to a computer-generated list. After four weeks, all residents underwent a testing session on the laparoscopic simulator of the same tasks as in the first session. All 42 subjects in both groups improved significantly from session 1 to session 2. Compared to controls, the Wii group showed a significant improvement in performance (p<0.05) for 13 of the 16 considered performance metrics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Nintendo® Wii™ might be helpful, inexpensive and entertaining part of the training of young laparoscopists, in addition to a standard surgical education based on simulators and the operating room.
authors: Department of Surgical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors: Domenico
authors: D
authors: Giannotti
authors: Gregorio
authors: G
authors: Patrizi
authors: Giorgio
authors: G
authors: Di Rocco
authors: Anna Rita
authors: AR
authors: Vestri
authors: Camilla Proietti
authors: CP
authors: Semproni
authors: Leslie
authors: L
authors: Fiengo
authors: Stefano
authors: S
authors: Pontone
authors: Giorgio
authors: G
authors: Palazzini
authors: Adriano
authors: A
authors: Redler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017081:Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004501:Education, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000193:education*; D008297:Male; D010820:Physicians; D010988:Play and Playthings; D018910:Video Games