Feasibility of ovine and synthetic temporal bone models for simulation training in endoscopic ear surgery

OBJECTIVE: Comparing the feasibility of ovine and synthetic temporal bones for simulating endoscopic ear surgery against the 'gold standard' of human cadaveric tissue. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSION: 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.