Background

Surgical video review provides a unique opportunity to identify and potentially adopt new techniques. However, it is unclear whether participating in a video review is associated with making technique-specific changes within a surgeon’s own practice.

Methods

Surgeons participating in a statewide quality collaborative were asked to respond to a survey on the technical components of a typical laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) in 2011 and again in 2021. Surgeons were also asked to perform peer-reviewed video assessment of LSG between 2015 and 2016. Surgeon characteristics and number of technical changes were compared among those who performed video review (n=19) to those who did not (n=10).

Results

Surgeons who participated in video review had a similar median number of changes in survey answer choices than those who did not (8.0 vs. 7.6, p=0.1425). There were no significant differences in age (55.6 years vs. 52.3 years, p=0.1410), number of years in practice (19.3 years vs. 19.7 years, p=0.7964) and type of practice (Teaching hospital: 57.9% vs. 60.0%, p=0.9129) between those who did and did not participate in video review. However, surgeons who participated in video review were more likely to submit their own video for review (84.2% vs. 10.0%, p<0.0002) as well as participate in coaching (89.5% vs. 10.0%, p<0.0001).

Conclusions

Participating in a statewide quality collaborative resulted in numerous technique changes for LSG. Although video review did not appear to increase the number of technical changes, surgeons who performed video review were more likely to engage in a surgical coaching program.