Knowledge of the Culture of Safety in Cholecystectomy (COSIC) Among Surgical Residents: Do We Train Them Well For Future Practice?

Background Biliary injury is the most feared complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). This study aimed to assess the awareness of culture of safety in cholecystectomy (COSIC) concept among the surgical residents in India. Methods A manual survey was conducted among general surgery residents attending a postgraduate course. Survey consisted of questions pertaining to knowledge of various aspects of COSIC, e.g., the critical view of safety (CVS). Results With a response rate of 51%, 259 residents were included in this study. They had more exposure to LC (63.3% assisted / performed > 15 LC) than to open cholecystectomy (60.6% assisted / performed <= 10 open cholecystectomy). The majority (80.2%) clearly differentiated Calot triangle from the hepatocystic triangle (HCT). However, 25.8% could not correctly define HCT. The majority (88.5%) had seen the Rouviere's sulcus during LC. While almost all (98.4%) respondents claimed to know about the segment 4, only 41.9% could correctly describe it. Awareness of the correct direction of the gallbladder retraction was lower for the infundibulum (53.5%) than for fundus (89.2%). The majority (88.3%) claimed to know CVS but only 11.5% knew it correctly, and 15.1% described > 3 components. The majority (78.7%) practiced to identify the cystic duct-common bile duct junction. Awareness was low for time-out (28.1%), intraoperative cholangiography (20.6%), bailout techniques (18.9%), and for overall COSIC concept (15.7%). Conclusions Knowledge of COSIC among surgical residents seems to be suboptimal, especially for the CVS, time-out, bailout techniques, and overall concept of COSIC. Strategies to educate them more effectively about COSIC are highly imperative to train them well for future practice.