A Simulated Tumor for Teaching Principles of Surgical Oncology for Biopsy and Excision of Skin and Subcutaneous Masses to Veterinary Students

Tumors of the skin and subcutaneous tissues are commonly encountered in primary care practice. The most common of these tumors are mast cell tumors and soft tissue sarcomas, for which the primary treatment is most often surgical excision. Understanding surgical margins, particularly the deep fascial...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of veterinary medical education Vol. 48; no. 6; p. 636
Main Authors:	Grimes, Janet A, Appleton, Kate L, Moss, Lydia A, Bullington, Anna-Claire M
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Canada 01-12-2021
Subjects:	Animals Biopsy - veterinary Dermatologic Surgical Procedures Dog Diseases - surgery Dogs Education, Veterinary Humans Sarcoma - veterinary Skin Students Surgical Oncology - education educational methods simulated tumors surgery surgical oncology tumor excision
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Summary:	Tumors of the skin and subcutaneous tissues are commonly encountered in primary care practice. The most common of these tumors are mast cell tumors and soft tissue sarcomas, for which the primary treatment is most often surgical excision. Understanding surgical margins, particularly the deep fascial plane, can be difficult for veterinary students. Current techniques to teach these concepts typically rely on cadaver-based laboratories, which require simulated tumors to improve the realism of the laboratory. Tumors can be difficult to replicate in cadaver laboratories; thus a new technique for a simulated tumor was developed. A gelatin-based simulated tumor was injected into the subcutaneous space in two different sites in canine cadavers. Students then practiced incisional biopsy and wide excision of a subcutaneous mass. Students were able to appropriately perform both techniques using the simulated tumors. When the deep margin was not clean on the wide excision, students were able to understand the error by identifying the simulated tumor, reinforcing the concept of obtaining an appropriate deep fascial plane. In summary, this gelatin-based simulated tumor technique was cost-effective, easy to perform, and effective for the teaching laboratory.
ISSN:	0748-321X
DOI:	10.3138/jvme-2020-0028