Comparison of laparoscopic skills performance between single-site access (SSA) devices and an independent-port SSA approach.

Background: This study compared the performance of validated laparoscopic tasks on four commercially available single-site-access (SSA) devices with the performance of those tasks on an independent-port (IP) SSA setup.
Methods: A prospective, randomized comparison of laparoscopic skills performance on four access devices (ADs) (GelPOINT, SILS Port, SSL Access System, TriPort) and one IP-SSA setup was conducted. A laparoscopic trainer box was used to train 18 (2nd- to 4th-year) medical students, four surgical residents, and five attending surgeons to proficiency in multiport laparoscopy using four laparoscopic drills (i.e., peg transfer, bean drop, pattern cutting, extracorporeal suturing). Drills then were performed in random order on each IP-SSA and AD-SSA setup using straight laparoscopic instruments. Repetitions were timed and errors recorded. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Statistical analysis was performed by two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey HSD post hoc tests.
Results: The attending surgeons had significantly faster total task times than the residents or students (P < 0.001), but the difference between the residents and students was not significant. Pair-wise comparisons showed significantly faster total task times for the IP-SSA setup than for all four AD-SSAs within the student group only (P < 0.05). The total task times for the residents and attending surgeons showed a similar profile, but the differences were not significant. When the data for the three groups were combined, the total task time was less for the IP-SSA setup than for each of the four AD-SSA setups (P < 0.001). Similarly, the IP-SSA setup was significantly faster than three of the four AD-SSA setups for peg transfer, three of the four setups for pattern cutting, and two of the four setups for suturing. No significant differences in error rates between the IP-SSA and AD-SSA setups were detected.
Conclusions: Compared with an IP-SSA laparoscopic setup, AD-SSAs are associated with longer task performance times in a trainer box model, independently of the level of training. Task performance was similar across the different SSA devices.