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Research Shows Playing Video Games Leads to Fewer Mistakes on the Operating Table.
All those years on the couch playing Nintendo and PlayStation appear to be paying off for surgeons. Researchers found that doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27 percent faster than their counterparts who did not play video games.
"I use the same hand-eye coordination to play video games as I use for surgery," said Dr. James "Butch" Rosser, 49, who demonstrated the results of his study Tuesday at Beth Israel Medical Center.
The study on whether good video game skills translate into surgical prowess was done by researchers with Beth Israel and the National Institute on Media and the Family at Iowa State University. It was based on testing 33 fellow doctors 12 attending physicians and 21 medical school residents who participated from May to August 2003.
Each doctor completed three video game tasks that tested such factors as motor skills, reaction time and hand-eye coordination.
Laparoscopic surgery using a tiny camera and instruments controlled by joysticks outside the body is performed on just about any part of the body, from an appendix to the colon and gall bladder.
The minimally intrusive surgery involves making tiny keyhole incisions, inserting a mini-video camera that sends images to an external video screen, with the surgical tools remote-controlled by the surgeon watching the screen. Surgeons can now practice their techniques through video simulations.
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