Ergonomics in surgical environments

Abstract

The majority of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) in surgery are mostly related to sustained position and awkward postures, forcing non-natural gestures in surgeon´s body. This article points to describe the different ailments studied during surgical tasks over the years: causes which increase the discomfort and fatigue, and effects related with them, in order highlight the current working conditions and how might be improved. To do that, a research is done to understand the main issues related on full body ailments and how is have been evaluated in different types of surgery, for which, the lead postural analysis technologies are presented, understanding Rapid Upper Limb Assessment system (RULA) the most suitable method to stablish priorities for preventive/corrective actions. Knowing the ailment´s causes it have been necessary to define the critical points related with the causes, as instrumentation design, regulations in operating tables and chairs, pedal drives, and other surgical elements that require a ergonomic improvements, so that, the main design guidelines have been collected in this document and have been compared with a sample of current products available in the market, with the purpose of knowing the degree of implication between the requirements requested by the surgical teams and the companies dedicated to their designs.