Spatial Cognition in Surgical Practice: Exploring the Influence and Development of Spatial Cognitive Processes in Laparoscopic Skill Learning

与传统的开腹手术相比，腹腔镜手术，也被称为“锁孔手术”，已被证明对患者具有极大的优势。然而，腹腔镜术的微创性质带来了一系列独特的空间认知挑战，使这一程序难于掌握和掌握。虽然空间认知在腹腔镜学习中的重要性已经确定，但现有的文献并没有(或只是部分地)解决许多突出的问题。其中，目前尚不清楚1)哪些特定的空间能力影响了腹腔镜技术技能的学习，2)这些能力是如何发展形成长期的外科手术技能掌握的，3)这些能力是如何在手术环境中的实际外科医生培训中发展的，以及4)除了空间能力之外，是否有任何个人和/或情景因素(例如，机构/政治)对腹腔镜技能的发展有任何显著的影响？拟议的项目将通过在两年内纵向跟踪新手外科医生的空间能力和技术腹腔镜技能，并系统地评估a)德国腹腔镜教育的现状和b)资深腹腔镜外科医生的认知特征，来解决这些问题。通过这样做，拟议的项目将开辟新的天地，不仅通过揭示外科学习中空间能力和技能获得理论的可塑性，而且通过提供与改进外科教育相关的新数据。

Laparoscopic surgery, also know as “keyhole surgery”, has proven highly advantageous for the patient compared to more conventional open surgery. However, the minimally invasive nature of laparoscopy imposes a set of unique spatial cognitive challenges that render this procedure notoriously difficult to acquire and master. Although the importance of spatial cognition in laparoscopic learning has already been established, the existing literature does not (or only partially) address many salient questions. Among others, it remains largely unclear 1) which specific spatial abilities influence laparoscopic technical skill learning, 2) how these abilities develop to shape surgical technical mastery over an extended period of time, 3) how these abilities develop in actual surgeons training in intraoperative environments, and 4) whether any individual and/or situational factors other than spatial abilities (e.g. institutional/political) exert any significant influence on the development of laparoscopic skills? The proposed project will address these questions by longitudinally tracking novice surgeons’ spatial abilities and technical laparoscopic skills over a two-year period as well as systematically assessing a) the current status quo of laparoscopic education in Germany and b) the cognitive profiles of the senior laparoscopic surgeons. In doing so, the proposed project will break new ground not only by shedding new light on the malleability of spatial abilities and theories of skill acquisition in surgical learning, but also by providing new data pertinent to improving surgical education.