The Effect of an Ergonomic Educational Intervention on Laparoscopic Surgeons' Ergonomic Risk Scores (ErgoEd)

NHS Foundation Trust

Status: Completed

Conditions: Surgery, Laparoscopic

Treatments: Other: Education

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06622980

332452 (Other Identifier)

MKUH-RD-027

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to determine whether education of surgeons can reduce the physical strain of performing surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is known to be beneficial for patients but can cause both short- and long-term musculoskeletal injuries for the surgeons who perform it. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether the physical risks to surgeons can be reduced by educating them on how to best set up the operating theatre and equipment, and how to optimise their posture and position whilst operating.

Full description

This study has been designed to assess whether receiving education in ergonomic principles can lower surgeons' ergonomic risk scores when performing laparoscopic surgery. The study will recruit surgeons who regularly perform laparoscopic surgery, with no stipulations on surgeon speciality. All surgeons will be required to have completed at least 20 laparoscopic cases beforehand.

The primary outcome will be assessed intraoperatively, with additional questionnaire data collected immediately postoperatively. Assessment of ergonomics (REBA score) will be done from still photographs that focus on the operating surgeon, although other team members may be visible in the background. Photographs will be analysed postoperatively by the research team and an overall REBA score calculated for each surgeon.

Other secondary outcomes will be assessed via a questionnaire. After each operation surgeons will complete a subjective cognitive and physical strain questionnaire based on the NASA-TLX and SURG-TLX scales, which are both widely used and validated tools. Additional questions have been added in order to provide data for the development of a new subjective physical strain questionnaire based on pooled data from several surgical ergonomics trials.

Enrollment: 10 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Laparoscopic surgeon from any surgical subspecialty
• Can commit sufficient time to ergonomic training

Exclusion criteria

• Training grade more junior than a registrar

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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10 participants in 1 patient group

Laparoscopic surgeons

Experimental group

Description:

Laparoscopic surgeons from any surgical subspecialty

Treatment:

Other: Education