Warm-up in Surgery: Impact on Operative Performance: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Trial Sequential...

Area of Science:

• Surgical Education
• Operative Performance Optimization
• Evidence-Based Medicine

Background:

• Surgical training environments require effective methods to enhance trainee performance.
• Optimizing technical skills is crucial for patient safety and procedural efficiency.
• The impact of pre-operative routines on surgical outcomes requires rigorous evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically evaluate the effect of surgical warm-up on operative performance.
• To synthesize evidence from randomized controlled trials using meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective randomized controlled trials.
• Inclusion of studies from academic and teaching hospitals globally.
• Analysis of data from medical students, residents, and surgeons.

Main Results:

• Surgical warm-up significantly reduced operative time.
• Trial sequential analysis confirmed the reliability of findings, indicating sufficient existing evidence.
• Secondary outcomes demonstrated improvements in tissue handling, psychomotor skills, and task flow.

Conclusions:

• Surgical warm-up is an effective, low-cost method to enhance technical surgical performance.
• The strategy is particularly beneficial within surgical training contexts.
• Further research should focus on optimal warm-up protocols for integration into surgical curricula.