Educational value of surgical videos on YouTube: quality assessment of laparoscopic appendectomy videos by senior surgeons vs. novice trainees | World Journal of Emergency Surgery | Full Text

Educational value of surgical videos on YouTube: quality assessment of laparoscopic appendectomy videos by senior surgeons vs. novice trainees | World Journal of Emergency Surgery | Full Text

World Journal of Emergency Surgery

Educational value of surgical videos on YouTube: quality assessment of laparoscopic appendectomy videos by senior surgeons vs. novice trainees

• Nicola de’AngelisEmail authorView ORCID ID profile,
• Paschalis Gavriilidis,
• Aleix Martínez-Pérez,
• Pietro Genova,
• Margherita Notarnicola,
• Elisa Reitano,
• Niccolò Petrucciani,
• Solafah Abdalla,
• Riccardo Memeo,
• Francesco Brunetti,
• Maria Clotilde Carra,
• Salomone Di Saverio and
• Valerio Celentano

World Journal of Emergency Surgery201914:22

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13017-019-0241-6

©  The Author(s). 2019

• Received: 4 February 2019
• Accepted: 25 April 2019
• Published: 9 May 2019

Abstract

Background

To prepare for surgery, surgeons often recur to surgical videos, with YouTube being reported as the preferred source. This study aimed to compare the evaluation of three surgical trainees and three senior surgeons of the 25 most viewed laparoscopic appendectomy videos listed on YouTube. Additionally, we assessed the video conformity to the published guidelines on how to report laparoscopic surgery videos (LAP-VEGaS).

Methods

Based on the number of visualization, the 25 most viewed videos on laparoscopic appendectomy uploaded on YouTube between 2010 and 2018 were selected. Videos were evaluated on the surgical technical performance (GOALS score), critical view of safety (CVS), and overall video quality and utility.

Results

Video image quality was poor for nine (36%) videos, good for nine (36%), and in high definition for seven (28%). Educational content (e.g., audio or written commentary) was rarely present. With the exception of the overall level of difficulty, poor consistency was observed for the GOALS domains between senior surgeons and trainees. Fifteen videos (60%) demonstrated a satisfactory CVS score (≥ 5). Concerning the overall video quality, agreement among senior surgeons was higher (Cronbach’s alpha 0.897) than among trainees (Cronbach’s alpha 0.731). The mean overall videos utility (Likert scale, 1 to 5) was 1.92 (SD 0.88) for senior examiners, and 3.24 (SD 1.02) for trainee examiners. The conformity to the LAP-VEGaS guidelines was weak, with a median value of 8.1% (range 5.4–18.9%).

Conclusion

Laparoscopic videos represent a useful and appropriate educational tool but they are not sufficiently reviewed to obtained standard quality. A global effort should be made to improve the educational value of the uploaded surgical videos, starting from the application of the nowadays-available LAP-VEGaS guidelines.

Keywords

• Educational videos
• Surgical training
• Laparoscopic appendectomy
• Resident surgeons
• YouTube