Systematic review and meta-analysis of the role of mental training in the acquisition of technical skills in surgery

•This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the role of mental training in the acquisition of technical skills in surgery.•The review included large cohort of patients (n = 474) in 9 RCTs.•All the RCTs in the review are discussed in detail; various assessment tools and outcomes are analyzed.•Meta-analysis on the overall performance comparing mental training with other training methods was conducted.•Our review suggests various ways to establish widespread use of mental training in learning of surgical technical skills.

BackgroundMental training is rehearsal of mental imagery without physically performing the task. The aim of the study was to perform systematic review and meta-analysis on all the available data to evaluate the role of mental training in the acquisition of surgical technical skills.MethodsThe following search databases were used: EMBASE, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Clinicaltrials.gov.uk, SIGN guidelines, NICE guidelines, and Cochrane review register. Meta-analysis was performed using Revman 5.2 statistical software.ResultsThere were a total of 9 randomized controlled trials with 474 participants, of which 189 participants received mental training. Five randomized controlled trials concluded positive impact of mental training. Mental training group did not show any significant improvement in overall performance of the task carried in each study (P = .06).ConclusionMental training can be used as an important supplementary tool in learning surgical skills when run in parallel with physical training and applied to trainees with some experience of the skill.