Cadaver-Based Trauma Procedural Skills Training: Skills Retention 30 Months after Training among Practicing Surgeons in Comparison to Experts or More Recently Trained Residents

Background Long-term retention of trauma procedural core-competencyskills and need for re-training after a one-day cadaver- based courseremains unknown. We measured and compared technical skills for trauma core competenciesmean 14 months (38 residents), 30 months (35 practicing surgeons) and 46 months (10 experts) after training to determine if skill degradation occurs with time. Technical performance during extremity vascular exposures and lower-extremity fasciotomyin fresh cadaversmeasured by validated individual procedure score (IPS) was primary outcome. Design Prospective study between May 2013 - September 2016 Results Practicing surgeons had lower IPS and IPS component scores (p =0.02 -0.001) than residents (p 20 min (n = 21) and failure to decompress fasciotomycompartments were correlated with incorrect landmarks and skin incisions. Modeling found interval trauma skills experience, not time since training, was associated with lower IPS. Conclusion Practicing surgeons with low trauma skills experience since training had lower IPS and component scores (p =0.02- 0.001) and more errors in comparison to experts and residents (p