Valid and reliable techniques for assessing performance
are essential to surgical education, especially with the emergence
of competency-based frameworks. Despite this, there is a paucity
of adequate tools for the evaluation of skills required during joint
replacement surgery. In this scoping review, we examine current
methods for assessing surgeons’ competency in joint replacement
procedures in both simulated and clinical environments. The ability
of many of the tools currently in use to make valid, reliable and
comprehensive assessments of performance is unclear. Furthermore,
many simulation-based assessments have been criticised for a lack
of transferability to the clinical setting. It is imperative that
more effective methods of assessment are developed and implemented
in order to improve our ability to evaluate the performance of skills
relating to total joint replacement. This will enable educators
to provide formative feedback to learners throughout the training
process to ensure that they have attained core competencies upon
completion of their training. This should help ensure positive patient
outcomes as the surgical trainees enter independent practice. Cite this article:
We evaluated the oncological and functional outcome
of 18 patients, whose malignant bone tumours were excised with the
assistance of navigation, and who were followed up for more than
three years. There were 11 men and seven women, with a mean age
of 31.8 years (10 to 57). There were ten operations on the pelvic
ring and eight joint-preserving limb salvage procedures. The resection
margins were free of tumour in all specimens. The tumours, which
were stage IIB in all patients, included osteosarcoma, high-grade
chondrosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma
of bone, and adamantinoma. The overall three-year survival rate
of the 18 patients was 88.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 75.4
to 100). The three-year survival rate of the patients with pelvic malignancy
was 80.0% (95% CI 55.3 to 100), and of the patients with metaphyseal
malignancy was 100%. The event-free survival was 66.7% (95% CI 44.9
to 88.5). Local recurrence occurred in two patients, both of whom
had a pelvic malignancy. The mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society
functional score was 26.9 points at a mean follow-up of 48.2 months
(22 to 79). We suggest that navigation can be helpful during surgery for
musculoskeletal tumours; it can maximise the accuracy of resection
and minimise the unnecessary sacrifice of normal tissue by providing
precise intra-operative three-dimensional radiological information.
