A study of surgeons’ postural muscle activity during open, laparoscopic, and endovascular surgery

Abstract

The present study showed that open surgery imposed significantly greater physical demands on the neck muscles compared with endovascular and laparoscopic surgeries. This may be due to the lighter manual task demands of these minimally invasive surgeries compared with open procedures, which generally required more dynamic movements and more forceful exertions.

Multicenter Study of Robotic Thyroidectomy: Short-Term Postoperative Outcomes and Surgeon Ergonomic Considerations

“…Thus, the surgeon must bend forward, with neck flexion of 60-90°, and the cervical extensor muscles are required to work vigorously to counteract the effects of gravity and to maintain a stable head position. 11,16,31 We found that, during open thyroidectomy, all 7 surgeons experienced pain, with 6 reporting neck pain and 1 reporting both neck and back pain.…”

“…[15][16][17]28 Although each type of surgical approach imposes very different physical work demands on surgeons, and may interfere with the ability of surgeons to perform effectively, we measured only neck/shoulder and back pain because such complaints are those most often reported by surgeons. 11,[15][16][17][28][29][30][31][32][33] The postural demands of open procedures and MIS are quite different, and many studies of ergonomic problems faced by surgeons have sought to develop better operating environments and improved instrument design, especially with respect to MIS procedures. [11][12][13][14][15][16][28][29][30] However, very few studies have reviewed the extent of musculoskeletal discomfort experienced by surgeons during robotic procedures.…”

“…9,10 Surgeons are a group of health care professionals who are at risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders because of many physical and psychosocial risk factors. 11 Different surgical procedures impose various physical demands on surgeons, and high rates of neck and shoulder pain have been reported. Moreover, increases in technological complexity and equipment that is sometimes poorly adapted to new techniques have led surgeons to increasingly complain of fatigue and discomfort when conducting modern surgical procedures.…”

“…Moreover, increases in technological complexity and equipment that is sometimes poorly adapted to new techniques have led surgeons to increasingly complain of fatigue and discomfort when conducting modern surgical procedures. [11][12][13] Increases in musculoskeletal strain, especially during procedures associated with the rising popularity of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), have prompted several ergonomic studies on surgeons. [14][15][16] Application of the da Vinci robot system to thyroid surgery may provide several advantages to such professionals.…”

The impact of preventable disruption on the operative time for minimally invasive surgery

“…A growing body of literature examines ergonomic deficiencies resulting from the use of video monitors [10,11], operating tables [12] and endoscopic equipment [4,13]. Other ergonomics research studies deal with the surgeon's posture [1,14,15]. These studies report in-depth statistical analysis and show that ergonomics can be used effectively to identify deficiencies resulting from human interaction with the work or technology design [14][15][16] but give less attention to communication, teamwork, and coordination.…”