Khural Manveer, Gullipalli Ravindra, Dubrowski Adam
Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, CAN.
Radiology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, CAN.
Cureus. 2020 Jun 9;12(6):e8533. doi: 10.7759/cureus.8533.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a serious medical condition that requires invasive surgery or endovascular treatment with stent grafts. This procedure is primarily carried out by vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists. Current methods of educating patients about their procedure have been inadequate, causing unnecessary stress in patients who have this condition and seek treatment. In this study, we evaluate a three-dimensionally (3D) printed AAA model to use as an adjunct patient education tool, thus allowing patients to make a more knowledgeable decision when providing informed consent. The physical attributes and realism of the model are evaluated through the use of a quantitative and qualitative survey completed by physicians at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital in St. John's, Newfoundland. These physicians are referred to as "Experts" in our study and also rate and comment on the necessity of having patient-specific versus generic 3D AAA models for patient education purposes. The aim of this study is to determine whether our 3D printed AAA model is ready to be used as an adjunct patient education tool and to seek suggestions for improvements that can be made in the model. Furthermore, having generic 3D AAA models would significantly decrease healthcare costs as compared to patient-specific models. Thus, we also investigate if generic models would suffice from the perspective of the physicians.
腹主动脉瘤（AAA）是一种严重的病症，需要进行侵入性手术或使用支架移植物进行血管内治疗。该手术主要由血管外科医生和介入放射科医生实施。目前向患者介绍其手术情况的方法并不充分，这给患有这种疾病并寻求治疗的患者带来了不必要的压力。在本研究中，我们评估了一种三维（3D）打印的AAA模型，将其用作辅助患者教育工具，从而使患者在提供知情同意时能够做出更明智的决定。通过使用由纽芬兰圣约翰斯圣克莱尔慈善医院的医生完成的定量和定性调查，对该模型的物理属性和逼真度进行了评估。在我们的研究中，这些医生被称为“专家”，他们还对用于患者教育目的的特定患者与通用3D AAA模型的必要性进行评分和评论。本研究的目的是确定我们的3D打印AAA模型是否准备好用作辅助患者教育工具，并寻求对该模型可进行改进的建议。此外，与特定患者模型相比，拥有通用3D AAA模型将显著降低医疗成本。因此，我们还从医生的角度调查通用模型是否足够。
