Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in arthroscopic surgeons and its relationship with training in ergonomics and proper posture

Authors

  • Nicolás Prada Ramírez Orthopedist and traumatologist. Spine specialist, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Clínica Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
  • Diego Rivera Sarmiento Orthopedist and traumatologist. Shoulder specialist, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Clínica Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.
  • Gabriel Oswaldo Alonso Cuéllar Veterinary zootechnician. Training Coordinator, Latin American Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación y Entrenamiento en Cirugía de Mínima Invasión (CLEMI), Bogotá, Colombia.

Keywords:

Human Engineering, Occupational Health Services, Arthroscopy, Musculoskeletal Pain

Abstract

Introduction: Arthroscopic surgery has some drawbacks derived largely from the manipulation of a variety of instruments during complicated maneuvers, through a two-dimension image monitor. Biomedical equipments are designed from the perspective of safety and comfort for the patient and rarely cover aspects related to ergonomics of the surgeons. This situation leads to arthroscopic different challenges. We designed a study to establish the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in orthopedic surgeons.

Methods: We conducted a survey of 180 national and international arthroscopic surgeons at the SCCOT International Congress of Arthroscopy in 2008. We analyzed 174 surveys with descriptive statistics.

Results: The surgeons reported predominantly musculoskeletal pain in cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine in 65 % of the studied population before starting a regular surgical day; symptoms usually increase to 74.7% by the end of the surgery day. 33% of the studied population have some source of chronic musculoskeletal syndrome secondary to their work.

Discussion: In the perioperative symptoms, the ergonomics training could reduce the prevalence by up to 12%, which may be clinically important and fully justify the training. Arthroscopists surgeons have pre and postoperative pain that mainly affect the spine and the shoulder.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Berguer R, Chen J, Smith WD. A comparison of the physical effort required for laparoscopic and open surgical techniques. Arch Surg 2003 Sep; 138(9): 967-70.

2. De Velasco G, Castañeda L, Lasky D, Castañeda P. Lesiones del cirujano en laparoscopia. Anales Médicos Hospital ABC 1999; 44(1): 31-5.

3. Hemal AK, Srinivas M, Charles AR. Ergonomic problems associated with laparoscopy. J Endourol 2001; 15(5): 499-503.

4. Berguer R, Forkey DL, Smith WD. Ergonomics problems associated with laparoscopic surgery. Surg Endosc 1999; 13(5): 466-8.

5. Wauben LS, van Veelen MA, Gossot D, Goossens RH. Application of ergonomic guidelines during minimally invasive surgery: A questionnaire survey of 284 surgeons. Surg Endosc 2006 Aug; 20(8): 1268-74.

6. Gurvinder K. Role of OT table height on the task performance of minimal access surgery. World J Laparosc Surg 2008; 1(1): 49-55.

7. Matern U, Waller P. Instruments for minimally invasive surgery: principles of ergonomic handles. Surg Endosc 1999 Feb; 13(2): 174-82.

8. García A, Juárez D, Maldonado A, Noriega S, Ramírez C. Diagnóstico y diseño ergonómico de la estación de laparoscopia de la Universidad Autónoma de CD, Juárez. Sociedad de Ergonomistas de México, A.C. Memorias del VI Congreso Internacional de Ergonomía; 2004 Mayo 26-29; Universidad de Guanajuato; 2004.

9. Kenyon T. Ergonomic issues in advanced MIS procedures. En: autores. Fundamentals of advanced minimally invasive surgical procedures. Memorias del 8th World Congress of Endoscopic Surgery; 2002 Mar 14; New York; 2002.

10. Usón J, Sánchez FM. Ergonomía en cirugía laparoscópica. En: Usón J, Sánchez FM, Pascual S, Climent S. Formación en cirugía laparoscópica. 2.a ed. Cáceres, España: Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión; 2006.

11. Usón J, Pascual S, Sánchez FM. Aprendizaje y formación en cirugía laparoscópica. En: Bilbao E, Pascual S. Cirugía laparoscópica del reflujo gastroesofágico. Técnica de Nissen. Cáceres, España: Editorial Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión; 2002. p. 37-61.

12. Usón J, Pascual S, Sánchez FM, Tejonero MC. Enseñanza de la laparoscopia: bases prácticas. En: Usón J, Sánchez FM, Roca A, Passas J, Van Velthoven R. Prostatectomía radical laparoscópica. Cáceres, España: Editorial Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión; 2003. p. 97-124.

13. Gómez A, Martínez M. Ergonomía. Historia y ámbitos de aplicación. Fisioterapia 2002; 2: 3-10.

14. Sanders M, McCormick E. Human factors in engineering and design. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1993.

15. Oborne DJ. Ergonomía en Acción. México D. F.: Editorial Trillas; 1999.

16. Masero V, Sánchez FM, Usón J. An integrated system of telemedicine for minimally invasive surgery. J Telemed Telecare 2000; 6 Suppl 2: S88-S89.

17. Masero V, Sánchez FM, Usón J. A telemedicine system for enabling teaching activities. J Telemed Telecare 2000; 6 Suppl 2: S86-S88.

18. Sanz L. Estudio ergonómico del cirujano durante la colecistectomía por vía abierta y laparoscópica. Cir Esp 2002; 71(4): 192-6.

19. Fried GM, Derossis AM, Bothwell J, Sigman HH. Comparison of laparoscopic performance in vivo with performance measured in a laparoscopic simulator. Surg Endosc 1999; 13: 1077-82.

20. Jordan JA, Gallagher AG, McGuigan J, McGlade K, McClure N. A comparison between randomly alternating imaging, normal laparoscopic imaging, and virtual reality training in laparoscopic psychomotor skill acquisition. Am J Surg 2000; 180: 208-11.

21. Ehrlich GE. Low back pain. Bull World Health Organ 2003; 81: 671-6.

22. Deyo RA, Weinstein JN. Low back pain. N Engl J Med 2001; 344: 363-70.

23. Rubin DI. Epidemiology and risk factors for spine pain. Neurol Clin 2007; 25: 353-71.

24. Ramírez JF, Ramírez C, Alonso GO. Tratamiento del dolor lumbar de origen discal y facetaria con cirugía de mínima invasión. En: Ramírez JF, editor. Dolor lumbar desde la perspectiva del clínico a las imágenes diagnósticas. Bogotá: Fundación Universitaria Unisanitas; 2010. p. 31- 54.

25. Ministerio de la Protección Social. Guía de atención integral basada en la evidencia para dolor lumbar inespecífico y enfermedad discal relacionados con la manipulación manual de cargas y otros factores de riesgo en el lugar de trabajo. Bogotá; 2006.

26. Green S, Buchbinder R, Hetrick S. Intervenciones fisioterapéuticas para el dolor del hombro (Revisión Cochrane traducida). Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2003; (2): CD004258.

Downloads

Published

2012-06-01

How to Cite

1.
Prada Ramírez N, Rivera Sarmiento D, Alonso Cuéllar GO. Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in arthroscopic surgeons and its relationship with training in ergonomics and proper posture. Rev. Colomb. Ortop. Traumatol. [Internet]. 2012 Jun. 1 [cited 2026 Mar. 16];26(2):120-8. Available from: https://revistasccotorg.biteca.online/index.php/rccot/article/view/632

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 2 (2012)

Section

Original research

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Sociedad Colombiana de Cirugía Ortopédica y Traumatología.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Article metrics
Abstract views
Galley vies
PDF Views
HTML views
Other views
Escanea para compartir
QR Code