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Practice Makes Perfect -- Trauma Surgery Simulator Provides New Training Tool at UA

June 18, 2003
Contact: Jo Marie Gellerman, 626-7219

A patient is rushed into the emergency room suffering from multiple trauma-related injuries. Scalpel in hand, doctors must work quickly, making split-second decisions. Before being faced with this scenario in real life, surgeons-in-training at the University of Arizona Department of Surgery are practicing their skills on a realistic human patient surgical simulator called "TraumaMan."

The UA Department of Surgery is using TraumaMan in the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course. With all the appearance and symptoms of a trauma victim and with "tissue" that cuts and "bleeds" like real human tissue, the simulator enables residents and emergency physicians to challenge and test their clinical and decision-making skills during realistic trauma patient care scenarios, says Rifat Latifi, MD, associate professor of surgery, UA Department of Surgery Section of Trauma and Critical Care, and one of the ATLS instructors.

Made by Simulab Corporation, the surgical trainer includes simulated tissue and abdominal organs within an abdominal cavity. The organs and cavity can be filled with simulated body fluids, such as simulated "blood" so that the patient actually "bleeds" when cut. To be more lifelike, the simulator also includes airflow to mimic real life responses. Just as technology is transforming the practice of medicine, it is also changing the way tomorrow's doctors are being trained, says Dr. Latifi. "For surgeons in training, practice makes perfect. That practice increasingly is involving new simulation technology."

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EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: 'TraumaMan' surgical simulator will be available for demonstrations and limited hands-on experiences on Thursday, June 19, 3:00-5:00 p.m. at University Medical Center. Contact Jo Marie Gellerman, 626-7219, or AHSC Office of Public Affairs, 626-7301, for specific location and directions.

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