The Role of the Hand Surgeon in Microsurgery in Brazil

Objective  This study evaluates the conditions for microvascular procedures found by hand surgeons in Brazilian clinical practices. Methodology  A prospective, observational, and analytical primary clinical research conducted during the 37 ^th Brazilian Congress of Hand Surgery, from March 30 ^th to April 1 ^st , 2017, in Belo Horizonte, in which physicians answered 12 closed, objective, multiple-choice questions regarding their geographic region, type of institution (public or private), microsurgical training, time of experience, technical conditions, the availability of a standby team for emergencies and compensation. Results  The study analyzed 143 hand surgeons; among them, 65.7% participants were based at the Southeast region, 13.3% in the Northeast region, 11.9% in the South region, 6.3% in the Central-West region and 2.8% in the North region. Regarding the time of experience, 43.4% of the hand surgeons had less than 5 years, 16.8% had 5 to 10 years, 23.8% 10 to 20 years, and 23% had more than 20 years of practice in microvascular surgery. Seven percent of the surgeons had no training in microvascular surgery; for 63.6%, training occurred during medical residency, whereas 30.8% were trained in another institution, and 7.7% in another country. Among these surgeons, 76.9% worked at both private and public hospitals, 14.7% at private hospitals and 5.6% at public hospitals. Regarding compensation, 1.8% of the surgeons considered it adequate, and 98.2%, inadequate in public hospitals, whereas 5.0% considered it adequate, and 95.0%, inadequate in private hospitals. Conclusion  This research shows that most surgeons were trained in microsurgery, had never performed reattachments, and considered that compensation is inadequate; moreover, standby teams were not available. There are few, unevenly distributed hand surgeons with microsurgical ability in emergency settings, and their compensation is low.