Microsurgical education for medical students: systematic review

PURPOSE: To perform a systematic review about microsurgical training for medical students. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted in several databases. Screening was performed by two independent reviewers based on predetermined criteria, following PRISMA 2020 guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 433 articles were obtained. After screening, 40 were included. Teaching methods were heterogeneous and restricted to a few countries. There are specific methods to assess microsurgery training, general surgical activities, learning curve and anxiety. The most used materials were surgical gloves, silicone tubes, chicken thighs and rats. Animals were not essential in early stages of education. There was a variation between one and 24 sessions regarding teaching frequency and between 3 and 120 hours of teaching period. The average age of students was 23.7, and 67.5% were men. Teaching groups had an average of 5.8 students per group. Physical activity and anxiety had negative effect on microsurgical ability gain, while caffeine had positive effect. Alcohol and sleep deprivation had no significant effect. CONCLUSION: Students with adequate training could achieve performance similar to that obtained by experts. Microsurgical education is realistic during medical graduation and may enable better career choices. More investigations are needed to improve this training and expand knowledge to other medical schools.