Does being left-handed make suturing harder to pick up?
Lefties are sometimes considered disadvantaged, but a study has found no difference in picking up new skills based on handedness.
Being a leftie has been seen as a drawback during surgical training, but a new study shows they are just as capable of mastering surgical skills as right-handers.
Most instruments and instructors are right-handed, but “whether this affects the performance of left-handed trainees remains unclear,” the study authors wrote in Surgery Open Science.
They recruited 129 medical students (86 right-handers and 43 left-handers) who were taught simple interrupted suturing by two right-handed surgeons using right-handed tools.
The medical students then had to perform their suture on a silicone training pad, and their performance was rated using a 10-item checklist for surgical performance.
