Medical EducationSTITCHINGNCT07899684
The Role of Simulation Fidelity in Early Surgical Skills Education
A study testing Suture skills retention in people with Medical Education and Simulation Training, run by Medical University of Lodz at 3 sites in Poland.
Trial summary
The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching surgical suturing techniques using various materials (e.g., banana peel, orange peel, pork, chicken, and silicone pads). Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Medical Education, Simulation Training, Medical Student
- What is being tested?
- Suture skills retention
- Type of treatment
- Surgery or procedure
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 131 participants
- Where
- 3 sitesPoland
- Study dates
- 20 May 2025to 14 Nov 2025
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages Any age
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Medical students (any age and sex)
- No prior experience in surgical suturing.
- Written consent to participate in the study.
Who cannot join
- Medical students with prior experience in surgical suturing. Participation in specialized sewing courses outside the scope of the degree program.
- Allergies to any of the materials used in the study.
- Refusal to participate in the study.
Trial locations and contacts
3 sites in 1 country.
Poland3 sites
Department of General and Transplant Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, 22 Kopcińskiego St., 90-153 Łódź
Lodz, PL, 90-153
Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery, Medical University of Lodz
Lodz, PL
Department of Vascular, General, and Transplant Surgery, Wrocław Medical University
Wroclaw, PL
About this study
The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching surgical suturing techniques using various materials (e.g., banana peel, orange peel, pork, chicken, and silicone pads). The study results will help identify the most effective teaching materials and methods, which will contribute to optimizing educational programs and improving the quality of training for future surgeons.
- Being tested
- Suture skills retention
- Keywords
- surgical training, medical education, surgical suturing, surgery
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Suture skills retentionProcedure or surgery
Also called Skill retention
Medical students with no prior formal experience in surgical suturing are randomly assigned to practice on one of five training materials using computer-generated randomisation: silicone pad, porcine skin, chicken tissue, banana peel or orange peel (study arm). All participants attend a lecture led by an experienced surgeon (academic teacher). After this, in Round 1, they practise suturing using a standardised protocol, supervised by experienced surgeons (four per group). In Round 2, trainees from all groups (silicone, porcine, chicken, banana, and orange) perform suturing on silicone pads (standardised material exposure, control arm). A pre-specified random subsample from each Round 1 arm are invited to Round 2 due to logistical constraints; selection is not performance-based. Consequently, if Round 2 has a smaller sample size than Round 1, and paired analyses of Round 1 and Round 2 would be performed only for participants with data available at both time points.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Medical students (various materials) | Active comparator | Medical students with no prior suturing experience and no known allergies to the materials used who are willing to participate in suturing on porcine skin, banana, chicken, or orange in Round 1, then on silicone model in Round 2. Receives: Procedure: Suture skills retention |
| Medical students (silicone only) | Sham comparator | Medical students with no prior suturing experience and no known allergies to the materials used who are willing to participate in suturing on a silicone model in Round 1, then on a silicone model in Round 2. Receives: Procedure: Suture skills retention |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Trainee-reported outcomes
Immediately after practice, trainees complete a questionnaire rating the training material and the learning experience. Four items are measured on a 5-point Likert scale (1-5): material comfort/usability, perceived realism (similarity to human skin), perceived understanding of basic suturing principles, and perceived development of practical skills. Additionally, trainees rate their confidence in placing sutures on a 0-10 numeric scale.
Measured: 1 day
Expert-rated technical outcomes
Experienced surgeons evaluate students' sutures across multiple domains, each scored on a 1-5 scale (1 = worst, 5 = best). For students who do not complete the task, a score of "0" is recorded, and the result is excluded from the qualitative analysis.
Technical endpoints are analysed separately for simple interrupted domains, vertical mattress domains, and global composite scores, defined as the mean across available domains within a suture type. Composite scores will first be calculated at the participant level as the mean across available domains. Group-level summaries will be presented as medians with interquartile ranges (IQR) due to the non-normal distribution of scores.
Measured: 1 day
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted27 Oct 2026
- Study start20 May 2025
- Primary completion14 Nov 2025
- Study completion14 Nov 2025
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Medical EducationStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Participant
- Enrolment
- 131 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Medical University of Lodz
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Wroclaw Medical University
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07899684
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- RNN/193/25/KE
- Acronym
- STITCHING
- Status last verified
- Oct 2026
- First submitted
- 9 Oct 2026
- Last updated
- 27 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 27 Oct 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Role of Simulation Fidelity in Early Surgical Skills Education
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07899684
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- STITCHING / RNN/193/25/KE
- Keywords
- surgical training, medical education, surgical suturing, surgery
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 131 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Medical University of LodzUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Wroclaw Medical University
- Study start
- 20 May 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 14 Nov 2025 (actual)
- Study completion
- 14 Nov 2025 (actual)
- First posted
- 27 Oct 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching surgical suturing techniques using various materials (e.g., banana peel, orange peel, pork, chicken, and silicone pads). The study results will help identify the most effective teaching materials and methods, which will contribute to optimizing educational programs and improving the quality of training for future surgeons.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (participant)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Medical students (various materials) | Active comparator | Procedure: Suture skills retentionMedical students with no prior suturing experience and no known allergies to the materials used who are willing to participate in suturing on porcine skin, banana, chicken, or orange in Round 1, then on silicone model in Round 2. |
| Medical students (silicone only) | Sham comparator | Procedure: Suture skills retentionMedical students with no prior suturing experience and no known allergies to the materials used who are willing to participate in suturing on a silicone model in Round 1, then on a silicone model in Round 2. |
Who may qualify
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Medical students (any age and sex)
- No prior experience in surgical suturing.
- Written consent to participate in the study.
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Medical students with prior experience in surgical suturing. Participation in specialized sewing courses outside the scope of the degree program.
- Allergies to any of the materials used in the study.
- Refusal to participate in the study.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Suture skills retentionAlso: Skill retentionMedical students with no prior formal experience in surgical suturing are randomly assigned to practice on one of five training materials using computer-generated randomisation: silicone pad, porcine skin, chicken tissue, banana peel or orange peel (study arm). All participants attend a lecture led by an experienced surgeon (academic teacher). After this, in Round 1, they practise suturing using a standardised protocol, supervised by experienced surgeons (four per group). In Round 2, trainees from all groups (silicone, porcine, chicken, banana, and orange) perform suturing on silicone pads (standardised material exposure, control arm). A pre-specified random subsample from each Round 1 arm are invited to Round 2 due to logistical constraints; selection is not performance-based. Consequently, if Round 2 has a smaller sample size than Round 1, and paired analyses of Round 1 and Round 2 would be performed only for participants with data available at both time points. | Procedure or surgery | Medical students (silicone only), Medical students (various materials) |
Primary outcome
Trainee-reported outcomes
Time frame: 1 day
Immediately after practice, trainees complete a questionnaire rating the training material and the learning experience. Four items are measured on a 5-point Likert scale (1-5): material comfort/usability, perceived realism (similarity to human skin), perceived understanding of basic suturing principles, and perceived development of practical skills. Additionally, trainees rate their confidence in placing sutures on a 0-10 numeric scale.
Expert-rated technical outcomes
Time frame: 1 day
Experienced surgeons evaluate students' sutures across multiple domains, each scored on a 1-5 scale (1 = worst, 5 = best). For students who do not complete the task, a score of "0" is recorded, and the result is excluded from the qualitative analysis. Technical endpoints are analysed separately for simple interrupted domains, vertical mattress domains, and global composite scores, defined as the mean across available domains within a suture type. Composite scores will first be calculated at the participant level as the mean across available domains. Group-level summaries will be presented as medians with interquartile ranges (IQR) due to the non-normal distribution of scores.
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 27 Oct 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
3 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Suture skills retention in people with Medical Education and Simulation Training, run by Medical University of Lodz at 3 sites in Poland.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 27 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 3 sites in Poland. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Trainee-reported outcomes (time frame: 1 day). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 27 Oct 2026.