An Interprofessional Approach to Assessing Musculoskeletal Pain and Ergonomics in Surgery Residents

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Occupational Health
• Ergonomics

Background:

• Work-related musculoskeletal injuries are prevalent among general surgeons, leading to chronic pain and lost work.
• Formal ergonomics curriculums are rarely integrated into surgical residency programs.
• This study explored an interprofessional educational approach involving occupational therapy (OT) students to assess surgical ergonomics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of an interprofessional educational approach for evaluating ergonomics in general surgery residents.
• To identify the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and ergonomic risk factors in surgical trainees.
• To inform the development of a targeted ergonomics initiative for surgical residency programs.

Main Methods:

• General surgery residents completed surveys on musculoskeletal pain and ergonomic practices.
• Occupational therapy students conducted intraoperative observations of open and laparoscopic abdominal surgeries.
• The Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) and Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) were utilized to evaluate postural risk.

Main Results:

• 84% of residents reported work-related musculoskeletal pain, with neck, shoulder, and foot pain being most common.
• A majority of residents (66%) felt pressure to operate despite pain, and few received faculty-directed ergonomic breaks.
• Intraoperative assessments revealed suboptimal postures, indicated by mean RULA and REBA scores of 6.1 and 7.3, respectively, necessitating ergonomic intervention.

Conclusions:

• An interprofessional educational strategy effectively assessed surgical ergonomics among general surgery residents.
• Prevalent musculoskeletal symptoms and intraoperative ergonomic dysfunctions exist without adequate workplace management or prevention strategies.
• The findings underscore the need for a comprehensive ergonomics initiative within surgical residency training.