Effect of an upper body exoskeleton for surgeons on postoperative neck, back and shoulder complaints.

OBJECTIVES: Surgeons are exposed to high levels of physical stress while working in the operating room. In industry, so-called exoskeletons are used to support the back and shoulder area. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and effects of an upper body exoskeleton on postoperative physical complaints of surgeons.

METHODS: Surgeons from a university hospital in the fields of orthopaedics, trauma- and visceral surgery performed two operations of the same type and planned length on two different days. The first operation was performed without an exoskeleton, the second with an exoskeleton. The participants completed questionnaires on shoulder pain (SPADI), neck pain (VAS and NDI) and back pain (VAS and ODI) before and after the procedure.

RESULTS: A total of 25 participants were included and performed 50 surgeries with a mean surgery duration of 144 min without and 138 min with exoskeleton. Without the exoskeleton, the activity of the operation resulted in a significant increase of the VAS neck by 1.0 points (SD 1.2, p < 0.001), NDI by 4.8 (SD 8.6; p = 0.010), VAS back by 0.7 (SD 1.0, p = 0.002), and ODI by 2.7 (SD 4.1, p = 0.003). With the exoskeleton the the participants reported about significant less complaints after the surgery (VAS neck: p = 0.001, NDI: p = 0.003, VAS back: p = 0.036, ODI: p = 0.036, SPADI: p = 0.016) Conclusion: An upper body exoskeleton can significantly reduce the discomfort in the neck, shoulder and back caused to surgeons by surgery.