Objective: This study aims to evaluate a temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthroscopy simulator using construct and face analyses.

Methods: Thirty participants attending a TMJ training course were divided into novice and expert surgeons (more than 100 procedures) and performed two arthroscopic tasks (cavity access/cavity exploration) during which the surgical tool movements were tracked. Five objective metrics were used to measure surgeon ability and construct validity was assessed by comparing novel and expert performance. Face validity was assessed by subjective questionnaires rating simulator realism and utility (1-5 scale) and tissue consistency (1-4 scale).

Results: Expert surgeons spent less total time (76.58 ± 47.40 vs. 27.60 ± 5.52; novices vs. experts) with higher average speed (7.40 ± 5.32 vs. 12.65 ± 5.37) and average acceleration (198.33 ± 2.42 vs. 325.93 ± 87.36). Movement smoothness revealed lower values in novice surgeons (3638.33 ± 1083.95 mm/s³; 2553.70 ± 768.01 mm/s³) than in expert surgeons (4655.63 ± 837.05 mm/s³; 4172.08 ± 1098.61 mm/s³). All these outcomes reached statistical significance (p ≤ 0.05) but in contrast total path of the instruments did not. Face validity scores averaged 4.75/5 for utility and over 4/5 for realism except for watertightness. Tissue consistency was regarded as lower than human tissue but without impact on the training experience. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups.

Conclusions: Both the construct and face validity analyses confirmed the TMJ simulator can be regarded as a valuable, safe, economic adjunctive tool to train TMJ arthroscopy.

Keywords: Arthroscopy; TMJ; Temporomandibular joint; Training simulator; Validation.

Copyright © 2024 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. All rights reserved.

目的：本研究旨在通过结构分析和表面效度分析来评估一个颞下颌关节（TMJ）内窥镜模拟器。

方法：30名参加TMJ培训课程的参与者被分为新手和专家外科医生（进行过超过100例手术），并执行了两项内窥镜任务（腔体进入/腔体探索），在此期间追踪了外科工具的运动。使用五个客观指标来衡量外科医生的能力，并通过比较新手和专家的表现来评估结构效度。表面效度通过主观问卷对模拟器的真实感和实用性（1-5分）以及组织一致性（1-4分）进行评分。

结果：专家外科医生所用的总时间更少（76.58 ± 47.40 vs. 27.60 ± 5.52；新手与专家相比），平均速度更高（7.40 ± 5.32 vs. 12.65 ± 5.37）和平均加速度更高（198.33 ± 2.42 vs. 325.93 ± 87.36）。运动的平滑度显示新手外科医生的值较低（3638.33 ± 1083.95 mm/s³; 2553.70 ± 768.01 mm/s³），而专家外科医生的值较高（4655.63 ± 837.05 mm/s³; 4172.08 ± 1098.61 mm/s³）。所有这些结果在统计学上均具有显著性（p ≤ 0.05），但总体而言，器械的行进路径没有差异。表面效度评分中实用性的平均得分为4.75/5，真实感得分超过4/5（除了防水性能以外的所有方面）。组织一致性被认为低于人体组织，但这对培训体验无影响。两组之间在统计学上无显著性差异。

结论：结构效度和表面效度分析均证实该TMJ模拟器可以被视为一种有价值的、安全的、经济的辅助工具来训练颞下颌关节内窥镜手术。

关键词：关节镜；TMJ；颞下颌关节；培训模拟器；验证。

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