Christmas article: Minimally invasive (Christmas) heart surgery

Abstract

Introduction The woven Christmas heart is a cherished tradition and an iconic symbol of Danish Christmas. The common approach is to weave Christmas hearts by hand, however, as surgery is moving towards a minimally invasive approach, we wished to assess whether Christmas hearts could be weaved in a minimally invasive approach. Methods A single-blinded randomized crossover trial. All participants had to weave three Christmas hearts; one by hand, one laparoscopic, and one by a robotic approach within eight minutes. The hearts were assessed visually by a Danish Christmas expert and designer. Two trained surgeons received additional attempts, with no time limit, at weaving Christmas hearts by a laparoscopic and by a robotic approach. Results The study showed that it was possible to weave Christmas hearts by a minimally invasive approach. However, Christmas hearts woven by hand were significantly more elegant (p less-than 0.001 for both), as well as significantly faster to weave (p less-than 0.001 for both) than hearts woven by a laparoscopic or robotic approach. Furthermore, experienced surgeons tended to weave more elegant Christmas hearts than inexperienced surgeons (p = 0.051). Conclusion Minimally invasive approaches to surgery can be used to weave Christmas hearts, however, these approaches did not lead to more elegant or faster weaving of the Christmas hearts. Furthermore, surgical experience and experience with minimally invasive surgical approaches led to more elegant Christmas hearts. Funding none. Trial registration none.