Copyright
©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Jan 18, 2026; 17(1): 111648
Published online Jan 18, 2026. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v17.i1.111648
Published online Jan 18, 2026. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v17.i1.111648
Bridging the gap: A scoping review of wet and dry lab simulation training in orthopaedic surgical education
Sari Wathiq Al Hajaj, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Kettering General Hospital, Kettering NN16 8UZ, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Chandramohan Ravichandran, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Hereford County Hospital, Hereford HR1 2ER, United Kingdom
Karthic Swaminathan, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading RG1 5AN, United Kingdom
Sanjeevi Bharadwaj, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Wye Valley NHS Trust, Hereford HR1 2BN, Herefordshire, United Kingdom
Vishnu V Nair, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Palakkad Institute of Medical Sciences, Palakkad 678624, Kerala, India
Hussein Shoukry, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, University Hospital of North Midlands NHS Trust, Stoke-on-Tren ST4 6QG, United Kingdom
Sriram Srinivasan, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Sreeraam Research Centre, Affiliation to Sree Raam Nursing Home and Hospital, Tamil Nadu 641022, India
Co-corresponding authors: Sari Wathiq Al Hajaj and Sriram Srinivasan.
Author contributions: Al Hajaj SW contributed to conceptualization, methodology design, critical revision of the manuscript, manuscript writing and editing; Ravichandran C contributed to data curation, formal analysis, drafting of results section, manuscript editing; Swaminathan K contributed to literature review, validation, drafting introduction and background, manuscript revision; Bharadwaj S contributed to data collection, investigation, preparation of figures/tables, initial drafting; Nair VV contributed to literature search, resources, writing original draft of discussion, proofreading; Shoukry H contributed to writing (review and editing), referencing and formatting; Srinivasan S contributed to supervision, validation, manuscript review, final approval; Al Hajaj SW and Srinivasan S have played important and indispensable roles in the manuscript preparation as the co-corresponding authors.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Sari Wathiq Al Hajaj, MD, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Kettering General Hospital, Rothwell Road, Kettering NN16 8UZ, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. sarialhajaj95@gmail.com
Received: July 6, 2025
Revised: September 4, 2025
Accepted: November 18, 2025
Published online: January 18, 2026
Processing time: 188 Days and 18.4 Hours
Revised: September 4, 2025
Accepted: November 18, 2025
Published online: January 18, 2026
Processing time: 188 Days and 18.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Orthopaedic training faces challenges like less operative exposure, safety concerns, and limited hours. Simulation-based education provides safe, consistent skill development. This review compares wet and dry labs, with virtual reality leading in dry labs (78%), and cadavers still the most realistic. Each method has advantages, and a hybrid approach can connect basic and advanced training. Standardized metrics and policies are key for adopting hybrid curricula.