Development of a moderate fidelity neck‐dissection simulator

Selective neck dissection can be viewed as a ‘‘keystone’’ operation, mastery of which essentially proves the ability to work safely around cranial nerves and the great vessels, access deep neck space infections, and perform smaller ‘‘component’’ procedures like submandibular gland excision. It is a relatively complicated surgery with potentially severe complications including incomplete lymphadenectomy with persistent/ recurrent malignancy, cranial nerve injury, stroke, and high-flow chyle leak. We feel that traditional reading alone is inadequate preparation for a trainee’s first several neck dissections as resident surgeon. The tortuous three-dimensional anatomy and process of removing the lymphatic package en bloc are difficult to grasp from text and two-dimensional drawings. A moderate-fidelity neck dissection simulator (NDS) was created to augment book learning.