Presented by: Eric Regele MD
Mayo Clinic Florida

Introduction

Physical and workplace demand on surgeons is an understudied field. The primary objective of this study was to investigate urology surgeons’ intraoperative workload, well-being, and neuromusculoskeletal disorders (NMSDs) and the potential associations with surgical modalities.

Materials

Electronic surveys were sent to urology surgeons across several sites of a large quaternary academic hospital system to record surgeons’ intraoperative physical and mental workload (from 0-10), NMSDs (yes/no questions), and the practice time they spent on different surgical modalities: open, laparoscopic, endoscopic, and robotic approaches.

Results

,

Nineteen surgeons (34%) completed the survey: 15 males (79%), age (mean (SD)) 46.4 (10) years, BMI=24.6 (3.5), and the number of years being an attending surgeon=12.7 (9.0) years. Nine (47%) reported at least one NMSD. The reported NMSDs included neck problems (3 participants), hip arthritis (2 participants), tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), wrist/forearm tendonitis, shoulder problems such as arthritis/inflammation, cervical disc issues, shoulder pain (tendonitis), lumbar disc issues, knee osteoarthritis, trigger finger, plantar fasciitis, thumb joint arthritis, and foot pain. 57.9% of the surgeons reported they had experienced or were experiencing work-related neuromusculoskeletal pain and 38.9% of the surgeons believed physical discomfort/pain will influence their ability to perform surgical procedures in the future. The reported current body-part discomfort was 21.1% in head and neck, 36.8% in upper extremity, 26.3% in torso/back, and 21.1% in lower extremity. Using a non-parametric model, significant associations exist between surgical modality and intraoperative physical demand, NMSDs, and current/past work-related neuromusculoskeletal pain.

Conclusion

Urologic surgeons are exposed to high prevalence of NMSDs, body part pain and discomfort, and work-related neuromusculoskeletal pain, which may negatively affect their future career. It seems robotic surgery is associated with less physical demand and fewer work-related neuromusculoskeletal symptoms. However, establishing any causal relationship between surgical modality and these symptoms needs more research. 

Funding

None

Lead Authors

Raymond Pak, MD, MBA
Mayo Clinic Florida

Co-Authors

Hamid Norasi, PhD
Mayo Clinic Rochester

Ram A Pathak, MD
Mayo Clinic Florida

M Susan Hallbeck, PhD
Mayo Clinic Rochester

Eric A V Qualkenbush, MD
Mayo Clinic Florida