Video-Assisted Septoplasty: The Future in Teaching Septal Surgery-A Technical Note

Teaching and learning septoplasty is challenging due to the limited and intermittent visualization of the surgical site by the resident and the mentor. Our objective was to develop and test the surgical tools required to achieve optimal visualization of the surgical field during septal surgery without having to modify the way conventional septoplasty is performed. A flexible high-definition endoscope is mounted on a modified 50-mm nasal speculum. This allows real-time visualization of all steps of the surgery on the video monitor. The residents can follow all intranasal surgical steps on the monitor while the surgeon is operating. In the same way, the mentor can guide the resident through the surgery and provide more appropriate feedback. All steps of the septal surgery can be recorded for later educational use. Video-assisted septoplasty will help surgeons teach septal surgery more efficiently.