(A131) Measuring Educational Impact of Suture Skill Training During a Short-Term Surgical Trip

Monday, October 13, 2025

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT

Location: OTO EXPO, Posters

Presenting Author(s)

Mateo Useche, MD, MPH

Research Fellow
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington, United States

Co-Author(s)

Ariana Sofia Rincon Gomez, MD

General physician
International Hospital of Colombia
Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia
SG

Selamawit Gebrezgabiher, MD

Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, United States
Zaid M. Yehala, MD

Resident
Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital
Mekelle , Tigray, Ethiopia
Cody L. Messick, BS

Medical Student
The Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Alicia B. Yang, BA

Medical Student
Icahn School of Medicine At Mount Sinai
New York, New York, United States
Myra A. Zaheer, BA

Medical Student
George Washington University, School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Bourbonnais, Illinois, United States
DE

Daniel G. Eyassu, BS

Mayo clinic, United States

Senior Author(s)

JW

Joshua P. Wiedermann, MD

Associate professor
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Disclosure(s):

Zaid M. Yehala, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.

Cody L. Messick, BS: No relevant relationships to disclose.

Alicia B. Yang, BA: No relevant relationships to disclose.

Joshua P. Wiedermann, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.

Introduction: This study evaluates the educational impact of a short term surgical trip (STST) as an intervention to enhance suture skills, assessed using the Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS).

Methods: The visiting team implemented an educational curriculum including didactic sessions, hands-on practice, and real-time feedback during a surgical trip May 2024. Participants included nine local residents and three local providers of the otolaryngology department at Ayder Hospital in Ethiopia. The OSATS tool was implemented pre- and post-curriculum to assess participant performance changes. Global performance was rated on a Likert scale across domains such as use of instruments, time and motion efficiency, needle insertion and bite sizes. Individual suture assessments rated proficiency in specific suture techniques using a 5-point Likert scale. Scores were converted to percentages to allow for standardized comparisons across multiple domains with missing information. Participants were asynchronously graded by blind expert evaluators. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to assess changes in performance.

Results: A total of 12 participants were included. Pre-intervention global scores ranged from 47.5% to 82.5%, with a mean of 62.3% (SD = 9.3), while post-intervention global scores ranged from 44.4% to 100.0%, with a mean of 70.5% (SD = 18.6). Mean improvement was 8.2% (95% CI: -18.6 - 2.1, p = 0.1072). Improvement in global performance was observed in 66.7% of participants (p = 0.3877). For individual suture evaluations, pre-intervention scores ranged from 25% to 75%, with mean of 54.6% (SD=14.5), while post-intervention scores were between 30% and 97%, with a mean of 65.5% (SD = 18.6). Improvement in individual suture technique scores was achieved by 91.7% of participants, with a mean increase of 10.9% (95% CI: 5.3 - 16.4, p = 0.0014).

Conclusions: The structured curriculum implemented during this short-term surgical trip demonstrated significant improvements in individual suture technique skills among participants, while changes in global performance were more variable.