Institutional Review Board approval has been obtained and written informed consent will be obtained prior to initiation of the study. All obstetrics and gynecology residents at the University of Alabama will be eligible for the study.
Eligible residents who desire will be enrolled and consented for the trial. Participants will then complete a short pre-intervention knowledge assessment written test and be asked to rate their confidence level in completing a fourth-degree repair based on a Likert scale. The written test is the same as the one used by Patel et al to evaluate residents' knowledge about fourth-degree laceration repair. The questions are based on Williams's obstetric chapter on episiotomy repair and showed construct validity given a significant difference in scores between postgraduate year (PGY)-1 and PGY-4 residents. Participants will also complete a baseline objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) assessment for repair of fourth-degree obstetric laceration on a commercial anatomical replica, the Sultan Anal Sphincter Trainer (Limbs \& Things Inc, Savannah, Georgia). This model comes with a replaceable perineal pad that allows approximately 24 repairs before replacement is necessary. The validated OSATS used will be the assessment described by Siddiqui et al and validated on a surgical model. The repair will be videotaped and then distributed to evaluators who will use the 20 item task specific checklist described by Siddiqui et al. The time taken for the repair will be recorded.
Demographic and baseline data will be collected on the participants including PGY level, number of fourth-degree lacerations performed, whether they have read a textbook regarding fourth-degree laceration repair, whether they have read a journal article regarding fourth-degree laceration repair, whether they have attended a didactic session in pelvic anatomy, and whether they have attended a didactic session on fourth-degree laceration repair.
Participants will then be randomized into two groups. Randomization will be performed using a computer-generated block design so that each group has a balanced number of residents in each postgraduate year training level. One group will be randomized to the modified beef tongue video and one will be randomized to the modified beef tongue instructional workshop. The modified beef tongue video group will be given an instructional video created using the modified beef tongue model to show anatomy and proper repair of the laceration. The group randomized to the modified beef tongue instructional workshop will undergo an interactive workshop using the modified beef tongue model to show anatomy and proper repair of the laceration.
The modified beef tongue for the video and workshop will be prepared according to the model previously described in the literature. The modified model includes beef tripe (small intestine) used for anal mucosa and chicken leg muscles for anal sphincter muscle analogs. The tripe is tunneled through the body of the trimmed beef tongue and sutured like an ostomy to simulate the anal canal. The tongue is incised toward the tripe "anal canal." Chicken leg muscles are tunneled from the incision out to the cut edges of the beef tongue to create anal sphincter muscle analogs.
Following the didactic intervention, participants from each group will be given the written knowledge assessment test again and the objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) for repair of fourth-degree laceration on the commercial anatomical replica again. The time taken for the repair will be recorded. Residents will also be asked to evaluate model realism, ease of use, and satisfaction using a Likert scale. The residents will be asked to assess their confidence again using a Likert scale.
The participants will then be crossed over and those who were initially randomized to the video group will then undergo the instructional workshop and the ones initially in the workshop group will be given the instructional video. Participants will then be asked to rate their overall preference between models on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the video and 10 being the instructional workshop. They will also complete the written knowledge test again.
The results of this trial may help to inform to a cost- and time-efficient manner of instruction on the repair of 3rd and 4th degree lacerations. A weakness is that it is unclear whether this will translate to effectiveness at the time of an actual third- and fourth-degree repair.
