Manual Ambidexterity Predicts Robotic Surgical Proficiency

Abstract Background: The manual dexterity of a surgeon is known to be related with surgical proficiency. Recently, as an objective measurement of surgical skills, inanimate methods using several types of simulators have been introduced. Using these simulators, we aimed to investigate the impact of manual dexterity on laparoscopic and robotic surgical proficiency. Materials and Methods: Fellow surgeons, surgical residents, and medical students (n = 32) participated in this study. For the measurement of dexterity, the sums and differences of the right and left hand performance times for the Grooved Pegboard Test were used as an index of dexterity speed and ambidexterity, respectively. The performance times during three sessions of laparoscopic suturing using a D-box trainer and the performance scores during three sessions using two robotic suturing programs with different degrees of difficulty provided by the da Vinci® Skills Simulator™ (Intuitive Surgical Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) were analyzed according to the...