Association of Video Completed by Audio in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy With Improvements in Operative Reporting

IMPORTANCE: All events that transpire during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) cannot be adequately reproduced in the operative note. Video recording is already known to add important information regarding this operation. OBJECTIVE: It is hypothesized that additional audio recordings can provide an even better procedural understanding by capturing the surgeons’ considerations. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The Simultaneous Video and Audio Recording of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Procedures (SONAR) trial is a multicenter prospective observational trial conducted in the Netherlands in which operators were requested to dictate essential steps of LC. Elective LCs of patients 18 years and older were eligible for inclusion. Data collection occurred from September 18, 2018, to November 13, 2018. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Adequacy rates for video recordings and operative note were compared. Adequacy was defined as the competent depiction of a surgical step and expressed as the number of adequate steps divided by the total applicable steps for all cases. In case of discrepancies, in which a step was adequately observed in the video recording but inadequately reported in the operative note, an expert panel analyzed the added value of the audio recording to resolve the discrepancy. RESULTS: A total of 79 patients (49 women [62.0%]; mean [SD] age, 54.3 [15.9] years) were included. Video recordings resulted in higher adequacy for the inspection of the gallbladder (note, 39 of 79 cases [49.4%] vs video, 79 of 79 cases [100%]; P