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Published on: August 25, 2022
Trunk muscle training, posture fatigue, and performance in laparoscopic surgery
Michael A Tse1, R S W Masters, A M McManus
1Institute of Human Performance, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. matse@hku.hk
Purpose:
To investigate the effect of trunk muscle endurance training on the perception of back postural fatigue and performance of a laparoscopic task.
Materials And Methods:
Thirty-one medical students (28 men and 13 women) with no laparoscopic surgical experience were randomly assigned to either a training group or a control group. Participants in the training group underwent a 6-week, 18-session trunk (abdominal and back muscle) endurance training program, whereas participants in the control group did not. Performance by all participants was assessed on a simulated laparoscopic task under varying conditions of low back postural fatigue, both before and after the training program.
Results:
Participants in the training group showed significant improvements in trunk endurance after the 6-week, trunk endurance training program (P<0.05), whereas those in the control group did not. The improvements in trunk endurance were accompanied by significantly reduced perceptions of discomfort (P< .001) and fewer errors during performance of the laparoscopic task. (P<0.02), whereas no significant changes occurred for the control group (P>0.05).
Conclusion:
Increasing trunk endurance can increase postural fatigue and discomfort during simulated laparoscopic tasks, which may assist in the management of errors during laparoscopy.
