Impact of an assistant on the technical skills of the primary operator in superficial femoral artery angioplasty.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of an assistant on the technical skills of the operator performing superficial femoral artery (SFA) angioplasty on the vascular intervention simulation trainer (VIST) simulator. METHODS: Eight experts performed 2 SFA angioplasties each on the VIST. Four experts had an assistant available. Experts' video recordings were blindly evaluated using global and procedural rating scales. RESULTS: Experts with assistants scored higher than the controls in the first: global rating scale (47.8 ± 0.5 vs 33.5 ± 5.1, P = .01); procedural rating scale (94.3 ± 2.2 vs 89 ± 2.5, P = .02) and the second procedure: global rating scale (47.8 ± 0.5 vs 38 ± 7, P = .03); procedural rating scale (95.3 ± 0.5 vs 89.5 ± 2.4, P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of an assistant had a positive influence on the technical skills of the operator performing SFA angioplasty on the VIST simulator.