Acute Biological Changes in Gynecologic Surgeons during Surgery: A Prospective Study

Area of Science:

• Physiological responses to stress
• Surgical performance and well-being
• Biometric monitoring in healthcare

Background:

• Understanding surgeon stress is crucial for patient safety and surgical outcomes.
• Previous studies often reported aggregated stress data, potentially masking individual variability.
• Real-world surgical environments present unique challenges for stress assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate changes in biological stress markers among surgeons during elective gynecologic surgeries.
• To investigate individual variations in stress responses within a surgical cohort.
• To examine the influence of surgical experience and procedure type on stress levels.

Main Methods:

• Prospective cohort study conducted in a tertiary teaching hospital.
• Involved 17 gynecologists (8 consultants, 9 trainees) performing 161 elective surgeries.
• Measured salivary cortisol, heart rate (HR), and HR variability before and during surgery.

Main Results:

• While group-level analysis showed decreased cortisol and altered HR/HR variability, individual stress responses varied significantly.
• No consistent pattern of stress change was observed across different surgical experiences, roles, or procedures.
• Individual stress fluctuations highlight limitations in interpreting mean cohort data.

Conclusions:

• Biometric stress changes in surgeons during live surgery are complex and individually variable.
• Mean cohort data may not accurately reflect individual surgeon stress experiences.
• Further research using controlled environments or simulation is needed to identify reliable stress predictors.