Trial reportBMC medical education2021
Impact of mental imagery on enhancing surgical skills learning in novice's surgeons: a pilot study.
Trial report in BMC medical education, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mental Imagery to Enhance Procedural Skills in Peripheral Venous Catheterization: A Randomized Simulation Study in Medical Students.Perspectives on medical education · 2026Trial
- Is mental training suitable for teaching a surgical procedure to students? A single-center study using a hernia model.Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery · 2025Trial
- Effect of mental imagery using cognitive aids on the performance of novice anesthesiology residents during a simulated cardiopulmonary resuscitation.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Alternative Modalities for Temporal Bone Training in Otolaryngology: A Systematic Review.Journal of otology · 2025Review
- Efficacy of a video refresher surgical technical assistance tool on surgeon performance of fasciotomies and proximal vascular control.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2025Article
- Embedding mental rehearsal in surgery: a comprehensive review of the evidence.Frontiers in surgery · 2025Review
- Cognitive models for mentally visualizing a sharp instrument in a blind procedure.Global surgical education : journal of the Association for Surgical Education · 2023Article
- How I Teach: Ultrasound-guided Peripheral Venous Access.ATS scholar · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveMental imagery (MI) has long been used in learning in both fields of sports and arts. However, it is restrictively applied in surgical training according to the medical literature. Few studies have evaluated its' feasibility and usefulness. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of mental imagery on surgical skills learning among novice's surgeons. MATERIAL AND
methodsIn this pilot prospective randomized comparative study; we recruited 17 residents and interns of surgery education curriculum. They were all included in their first semester of the curricula. Two groups were randomly designed. Group (a) including "Mental Imagery" volunteers (n = 9) which benefited from a mental imagery rehearsal exercise prior to physical practice, while the control group (b) (n = 8) didn't underwent any MI process prior to surgery practice. Each participant of both groups was invited to perform an intestinal hand-sewn anastomosis on bovine intestine. Each procedure was evaluated and analyzed according to 14 qualitative criteria while each criterion was scored 0, 1 or 2 respectively assigned to the gesture was not acquired, gesture was performed with effort, or mastered gesture. The final score is 28 for those who master all 14 gestures. A non-parametric statistical comparison between the both studied groups was performed.
resultsBoth groups of surgery students demonstrated equivalent age, sex ratio, laterality, and surgical experience. The mean overall score is significantly higher in the MI group (a) (17.78; SD = 2.42) compared to the control group (b) (10.63, SD = 2.85). However, advanced analysis of individual assessment items showed significant statistical difference between both groups only in 6 out of 14 assessed items.
conclusionIndeed, mental imagery will not be able to substitute the traditional learning of surgery for novice surgeons; it is an important approach for improving the technical skills acquisition and shortening the physical learning.
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