Porcine sebaceous cyst model: an inexpensive, reproducible skin surgery simulator.

BACKGROUND

Surgical simulators are an established part of surgical training and are regularly used as part of the objective structured assessment of technical skills. Specific artificial skin models representing cutaneous pathology are available, although they are expensive when compared with pigskin. The limitations of artificial skin models include their difficulty in representing lifelike cutaneous pathology.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to devise an inexpensive, reproducible surgical simulator that provides the most lifelike representation of the sebaceous cyst. materials and methods: Pigskin, either pig's feet/trotters or pork belly, was incised, and a paintball was inserted subcutaneously and fixed with cyanoacrylic glue.

RESULTS

This model has regularly been used in cutaneous surgical courses that we have organized. Either adding more cyanoacrylic glue or allowing more time for the paint ball to absorb fluid from surrounding tissue can also adjust the degree of difficulty.

CONCLUSIONS

The degree of correlation with lifelike cutaneous pathology is such that we recommend that all courses involved in basic skin surgery should consider using the porcine sebaceous cyst model when teaching excision of sebaceous cysts.