The impact of obesity on surgeon ergonomics in robotic and straight stick laparoscopic surgery
Objective
Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms (WMS) are reported to be increasing in surgeons performing minimally invasive procedures.To investigate the use of Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) and electromyography sensor (EMG) recorders to record real-time information on the muscle movement/activity required to perform training exercises in simulated in normal and high body mass index (BMI) models.
Design
Prospective study
Setting
University Hospital
Sample
Four consultant gynaecological oncology surgeons experienced in complex straight-stick laparoscopic (SS) and robotic surgery (RA).
Interventions
Three exercises (hoops onto pegs and wire chase) using SS and RA on two abdominal models: A) normal BMI; B) high BMI.
Measurements and Main Results
Time to complete exercise and surgeon muscle movement/activity. The time to complete the all the exercises was significantly lower RA as compared to SS (p<0.001). The movement of the surgeons’ core was significantly greater in model SS-B compared to SS-A for all three exercises (p<0.001). Muscle usage, as determined by EMG peak, was significantly higher in SS-A, and even higher in SS-B, but generally flat for all the RA-A and RA-B exercises (p<0.05).
Conclusions
Detailed real-time information can be collected through IMU/EMG sensors. Our results indicate that RA requires less surgeon movements and muscle activity to complete tasks compared to SS, particularly in a high BMI model. The implications of these results are that RA in high BMI patients may therefore have less physical impact on the surgeon compare to SS, and may result in lower WMS rates.
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Published in
Journal of Minimally Invasive GynecologyVolume
27Issue
5Pages
1063-1069Publisher
Elsevier Inc. on behalf of AAGLVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© Elsevier Inc. on behalf of AAGLPublisher statement
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmig.2019.07.009.Acceptance date
2019-07-13Publication date
2019-07-18Copyright date
2019ISSN
1553-4650Publisher version
Language
- en
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