Nonsurgical abilities predict laparoscopic surgical skills after training

It has been suggested that certain nonsurgical abilities can be used to predict laparoscopic surgical skills. This study aimed to conclusively determine whether these nonsurgical proficiencies are associated with laparoscopic surgical skills both before and after surgical training. We recruited 58 medical students for this study and assessed their laparoscopic surgical skills using the Surgical Assessment Device (HUESAD). The participants performed ten runs of HUESAD tasks before training. After they underwent box training and VR simulator training once a week for two weeks, they performed ten additional runs of the tasks. Finally, the participants responded to a questionnaire about their involvement in nonsurgical skills, including playing computer games, typing, sewing, playing musical instruments, and using chopsticks. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated. No significant correlation was found between any of the nonsurgical skills and initial laparoscopic surgical skills. However, a significant correlation was observed between the participants’ ability to use chopsticks and scissors, ride a bicycle, and post-training laparoscopic surgical skills (p < 0.05). Several nonsurgical abilities investigated in this study did not correlate with pre- and post-training laparoscopic surgical skills, demonstrating that certain nonsurgical skills predict laparoscopic surgical skills not before but after training. This approach can be useful in predicting improvement in laparoscopic surgical skills. The ability to predict laparoscopic surgical skills is important for designing custom training programs to ensure safety and high-quality operations in laparoscopic surgery.