Frankfurt microsurgery course: the first 175 trainees.
BACKGROUND
Microsurgery courses, taught external to surgical training programs, are essential for acquiring the high level of technical skill required for clinical proficiency.


METHODS
The Frankfurt microsurgery course is a 5-day, intensive course that teaches arterial and venous anastomosis using end-to-end, end-to-side, one-way-up, continuous-suture, and vessel graft techniques. During the course, the instructor records the level of skill (in-course data) achieved by each trainee by assessing anastomosis completion and patency. Demographic information is also collected. Post-course trainees are invited to complete an online survey (post-course data) to get their opinions of the courses' effectiveness.


RESULTS
The in-course "skill achievement" and post-course "course effectiveness" data are presented below. In-course data: 94.8 and 59.9% of participants completed patent end-to-end arterial and venous anastomoses, respectively, while 85.4% performed a patent end-to-side anastomosis. 96.1 and 57.1% of participants who attempted arterial and venous anastomoses using the one-way-up technique were successful, as were 90.9% of those attempting continuous-suture technique. Patent venous grafts were performed by 54.7% of participants.
All respondents indicated significant improvement of their microsurgical skills after taking the course. 66.7% of respondents considered the full-time presence of the instructor to be the most valuable aspect of the course. All respondents would highly recommend the course to colleagues.


CONCLUSIONS
The microcourse significantly increased trainees' clinical microsurgery skills, confidence, and the number of clinical cases they perform. Of all the anastomosis techniques taught, venous anastomosis and grafting were the most difficult to learn. The presence of a full-time experienced instructor was most important.
Department of Physiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, USA.
G
G
Perez-Abadia
Department of Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, JW Goethe-University, Frankfurt/main, Germany.
M
M
Janko
Frankfurt Initiative for Regenerative Medicine, JW Goethe-University, Frankfurt/main, Germany.
L
L
Pindur
Department of Plastic, Hand & Reconstructive Surgery, BG Trauma Center, Frankfurt/main, Germany.
M
M
Sauerbier
Frankfurt Initiative for Regenerative Medicine, JW Goethe-University, Frankfurt/main, Germany. JHB121654@gmail.com.
J H
JH
Barker
Department of Physiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, USA.
I
I
Joshua
Department of Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, JW Goethe-University, Frankfurt/main, Germany.
I
I
Marzi
Department of Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, JW Goethe-University, Frankfurt/main, Germany.
J
J
Frank
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical / Q000193:education; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000193:education*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013536:Suture Techniques / Q000193:education; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000193:education*
Education; Evaluation in microsurgery; Frankfurt microsurgery course; Microsurgery; Skills; Training