Surgeons who have played a lot of video games appear to perform better at laparoscopic or keyhole surgery.

Researchers in New York tested the skills of a group of 12 surgeons and 21 surgical residents during a simulated surgery drills course called Top Gun in 2003. The surgeons also played three video games for 25 minutes while the team assessed their gaming skills. 

'Further studies are needed before we include video game play as an adjunct for skill training in laparoscopic surgery or before we relax our concerns about video game playing among children.'—Study commentator Dr. Myriam Curet

"Training curricula that include video games may help thin the technical interface between surgeons and screen-mediated applications, such as laparoscopic surgery," the study's authors concluded.

"Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons."

In the February issue of Archives of Surgery, Dr. James Rosser of the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York said doctors who played at least three hours of video games per week at the height of their gaming scored higher than surgeons who never handled a game controller.

In the simulated drills, experienced gamers made 37 per cent fewer errors, were 27 per cent faster and scored 42 per cent better overall.

Current video game players made 32 per cent fewer errors, were 24 per cent faster and scored 26 per cent better overall than their non-player colleagues.

Laparoscopic surgery involves guiding instruments through a small incision, which reduces bleeding and shortens recovery times. The surgeon watches the instruments' movements on a television screen.

No pass for kids to play for hours

The findings support earlier studies that video games help improve fine motor skills, eye-hand co-ordination, visual attention, depth perception and computer competency, the study said.

The peak gaming time of three hours per week is much less than the average time racked up by adolescents today, at 13 hours per week for boys and five hours per week for girls, and studies also tie gaming to poorer school performance, the team cautioned.

"Therefore, indiscriminate video game play is not a panacea," the team wrote.

The small sample size of the study opens the potential for bias, Dr. Myriam Curet of the department of surgery at Stanford University in California said in a journal critique accompanying the study.

It's unknown whether higher scores on the test lead to better competency in laparoscopic skills, and it's possible that judgment, interpersonal and communication skills lead to a better physician than higher scores, Curet said.

"Although it seems intuitive that video game skills can translate to improved laparoscopic skills, further studies are needed before we include video game play as an adjunct for skill training in laparoscopic surgery or before we relax our concerns about video game playing among children," the critique concluded.