Ergonomics, user comfort, and performance in standard and robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery

Abstract

Background Robot-assisted surgical systems have been introduced to improve the outcome of minimally invasive surgery. These systems also have the potential to improve ergonomics for the surgeon during endoscopic surgery. This study aimed to compare the user's mental and physical comfort in performing standard laparoscopic and robot-assisted techniques. Surgical performance also was analyzed. Methods In this study, 16 surgically inexperienced participants performed three tasks using both a robotic system and standard laparoscopic instrumentation. Distress was measured using questionnaires and an ambulatory monitoring system. Surgical performance was analyzed with time-action analysis. Results The physiologic parameters (p = 0.000), the questionnaires (p = 0.000), and the time-action analysis (p = 0.001) favored the robot-assisted group in terms of lower stress load and an increase in work efficiency. Conclusion In this experimental setup, the use of a robotassisted surgical system was of value in both cognitive and physical stress reduction. Robotic assistance also demonstrated improvement in performance.

Surgeons’ display reduced mental effort and workload while performing robotically assisted surgical tasks, when compared to conventional laparoscopy

“…Indeed, the results of the current study are consistent with the limited research to date and suggest that the lower workload was primarily due to the surgeons finding the tasks less stressful [27][28][29], physically demanding [4], and complex, on the robotic system. Collectively, these results suggest that by utilizing robotic technology surgeons can operate at lower workloads, an important benefit given the strong links between work overload and performance errors, stress-related disorders, and burnout [11,30].…”

Robotically assisted laparoscopy benefits surgical performance under stress

“…The robotic and laparoscopic groups reported comparable levels of stress, in contrast to our hypothesis and previous research that has demonstrated that robotic technology is associated with less self-reported stress than laparoscopic technology [10][11][12]. For example, Klein and colleagues found that experienced surgeons who had performed an average of 533 laparoscopic and 225 robotic procedures reported less stress when performing a peg transfer task on a robotic rather than laparoscopic system [11].…”

“…Despite recent research implying that surgeons experience less self-reported stress during tasks performed on a robotic rather than laparoscopic platform [10][11][12], there is a lack of research using objective markers of stress. This is surprising given that objective measures such as cardiovascular responses allow stress to be recorded online continuously and covertly, making them impervious to the biases associated with self-report measures (e.g., social desirability bias).…”

Embedding robotic surgery into routine practice and impacts on communication and decision making: a review of the experience of surgical teams

“…Overall, there is broad agreement in the perception that operation duration decreases as experience increases, supported by evidence from both randomised and non-randomised comparative studies, with this often being attributed to a decrease in set-up time (Alasari and Min 2012;Lin et al 2011;Turchetti et al 2012). Thus, the underlying theory is that when the team is experienced and well trained, their knowledge and experience enables them to quickly undertake the tasks required for setting up the robot.…”