Strain on the surgeon: a systematic review of the methods of measuring strain in abdominal and thoracic surgery

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INTRODUCTION: Surgery can be arduous to the operating surgeon - both in terms of cognitive and physical strain. Ergonomic strain has been recognised to drive absenteeism, reduce career longevity and cause injuries. This systematic review aims to 1. Outline the nature of ergonomic strain in the context of abdominal and thoracic surgery, regardless of surgical approach 2. Identify the qualitative and quantitative measures of surgical strain. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted using Pubmed, MEDLINE and Ovid EMBASE databases (date range: 1990 to Sep 2024). Of the initial 1288 articles identified, a final 71 studies were included in this review (quantitative measures = 36, qualitative measures = 49, of which 14 studies overlapped with the papers reviewed in the quantitative measures section). RESULTS: The quantitative measures used to measure ergonomic strain included electromyography, electrocardiography, gravimetric position sensors, skin conductance and inertial measurement units. Laparoscopic surgery caused less physical strain than open surgery, however more cognitive strain during the learning curve. Robotic surgery yielded conflicting data in terms of muscle activation when compared to laparoscopic surgery however reported less cognitive and cardiovascular strain. The qualitative measures of strain included a range of self-reported questionnaires, demonstrating important gender differences and scores that typically correlated with objective physical strain. DISCUSSION: The studies show wide variation in measuring ergonomic strain. Avenues for further research include measuring the impact of learning curves, patient factors on ergonomic strain and the impact of gender.

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