Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 October 2019
Comparing the feasibility of ovine and synthetic temporal bones for simulating endoscopic ear surgery against the ‘gold standard’ of human cadaveric tissue.
A total of 10 candidates (5 trainees and 5 experts) performed endoscopic tympanoplasty on 3 models: Pettigrew temporal bones, ovine temporal bones and cadaveric temporal bones. Candidates completed a questionnaire assessing the face validity, global content validity and task-specific content validity of each model.
Regarding ovine temporal bone validity, the median values were 4 (interquartile range = 4–4) for face validity, 4 (interquartile range = 4–4) for global content validity and 4 (interquartile range = 4–4) for task-specific content validity. For the Pettigrew temporal bone, the median values were 3.5 (interquartile range = 2.25–4) for face validity, 3 (interquartile range = 2.75–3) for global content validity and 3 (interquartile range = 2.5–3) for task-specific content validity. The ovine temporal bone was considered significantly superior to the Pettigrew temporal bone for the majority of validity categories assessed.
Tympanoplasty is feasible in both the ovine temporal bone and the Pettigrew temporal bone. However, the ovine model was a significantly more realistic simulation tool.
Mr T Milner takes responsibility for the integrity of the content of the paper