Impact of one-to-one tutoring on fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery (FLS) passing rate in a single center experience outside the United States: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Outside the US, FLS certification is not required and its teaching methods are not well standardized. Even if the FLS was designed as “stand alone” training system, most of Academic Institution offer support to residents during training. We present the first systematic application of FLS in Italy. Our aim was to evaluate the role of mentoring/coaching on FLS training in terms of the passing rate and global performance in the search for resource optimization. Methods: Sixty residents in general surgery, obstetrics & gynecology, and urology were selected to be enrolled in a randomized controlled trial, practicing FLS with the goal of passing a simulated final exam. The control group practiced exclusively with video material from SAGES, whereas the interventional group was supported by a mentor. Results: Forty-six subjects met the requirements and completed the trial. For the other 14 subjects no results are available for comparison. One subject for each group failed the exam, resulting in a passing rate of 95.7%, with no obvious differences between groups. Subgroup analysis did not reveal any difference between the groups for FLS tasks. Conclusion: We confirm that methods other than video instruction and deliberate FLS practice are not essential to pass the final exam. Based on these results, we suggest the introduction of the FLS system even where a trained tutor is not available. This trial is the first single institution application of the FLS in Italy and one of the few experiences outside the US. Trial Number: NCT02486575 (https://www.clinicaltrials.gov).