The following is a summary of “A Novel Simulation Model Significantly Improves Confidence in Canthotomy and Cantholysis Among Ophthalmology and Emergency Medicine Trainees,” published in the November 2023 issue of Emergency Medicine by Wilde, et al.

Orbital compartment syndrome is an eye disease that can cause blindness. Early evaluation and treatment are very important for getting the best eye results. Lateral canthotomy and cantholysis are the only ways to treat the problem; emergency doctors and ophthalmologists must know how to do it. Trusting the process can prevent treatment from being put off and improve results. For a study, researchers sought to make a realistic, low-cost training model to give trainees the confidence they needed to do lateral canthotomy and cantholysis. The tools used in the emergency room were used to make a model. To test how well this plan worked, students’ self-perceived confidence was measured with surveys given before and after the lesson. 

About 47 emergency medicine registrars and 18 ophthalmology registrars were asked to rate their confidence in the procedure on a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 meant they were not very confident and 5 meant they were extremely confident. After the teaching session, 42% (n = 27) of the participants felt “quite confident” (4 on the Likert scale) in doing the procedure unsupervised outside of work hours, compared to 9.23% (n = 6) before (P < 0.01). Their model significantly raised confidence in all three areas: diagnosing orbital compartment syndrome, finding the right tools, and performing canthotomy and cantholysis. 

It was rated as 4.35 (1 = not at all helpful, 5 = very helpful) for understanding the anatomy of the area. Among the participants, 66% (n = 43) said they would like more simulation-based training. They made a cheap model that is easy to put together and correctly fits the human body. It showed the user knew the difference between canthotomy and cantholysis because they could “strum” the inferior canthal tendon without cutting the lower lid. Many more students felt “quite confident” about doing the process when this model was used. This model could be useful for people learning how to be eye doctors and do emergency care.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0736467923003074