title: Systematic review of live surgical demonstrations and their effectiveness on training.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Live surgical demonstrations are commonly performed for surgical conferences. These live procedures have recently come under scrutiny, in particular with issues pertaining to patient safety. This systematic review aimed to explore the evidence for live surgery as a training tool, and to investigate the safety of live surgical broadcasts.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library databases were searched using a predefined search strategy from January 1980 to October 2013. Specialty Societies and primary Colleges of Surgeons were searched for guidelines or position statements on live surgical teaching.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Educational value criteria demonstrated for live surgery included feasibility, acceptability, construct and concurrent validity. Complication rates during live procedures were not compromised in the majority of studies. Patient safety, however, may be affected during live procedures as success rates have been found to be lower in some studies. Only Cardiothoracic, Urology and Vascular Surgical Societies currently offer guidelines on conducting live surgical demonstrations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Little evidence exists on the safety and educational value of live surgery, with few studies of high quality conducted. Guidance on live procedures is scarce, with only three major surgical specialties offering any advice. More needs to be done to establish and promote evidence for the value of live surgery demonstrations.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Centre for Transplantation, King's College London, Department of Urology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, and King's Health Partners, London, UK.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Brunckhorst
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Challacombe
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abboudi
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahmed
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D061214:Patient Safety; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000193:education*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*