Development and experimental evaluation of an alarm concept for an integrated surgical workstation

Alarm conditions of the technical equipment in operating rooms represent a prevalent cause for interruptions of surgeons and scrub nurses, resulting in an increase of workload and potential reduction of patient safety. In this work, an alarm concept for an integrated operating room system based on open communication standards is developed and tested.

In a laboratory experiment, the reactions of surgeons were analysed, comparing the displaying of alarms on an integrated workstation and on single devices: disruptive effects of alarm handling on primary task (ratings of perceived distraction, resumption lag, deterioration of speed, accuracy, and prospective memory), efficiency and effectiveness of identification of alarms, as well as perceived workload were included.

The identification of the alarm cause is significantly more efficient and effective with the integrated alarm concept. Moreover, a slightly lower deterioration of performance of the primary task due to the interruption of alarm handling was observed.

Displaying alarms on an integrated workstation supports alarm handling and consequently reduces disruptive effects on the primary task. The findings show that even small changes can reduce workload in a complex work environment like the operating room, resulting in improved patient safety.