Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Nov 18, 2021; 12(11): 891-898
Published online Nov 18, 2021. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v12.i11.891
Work-related musculoskeletal injuries among upper extremity surgeons: A web-based survey
Mohammad M Alzahrani, Saad M Alqahtani, David Pichora, Ryan Bicknell
Mohammad M Alzahrani, Saad M Alqahtani, Department of Orthopaedics, Imam Adulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, KSA 34212, Saudi Arabia
David Pichora, Ryan Bicknell, Department of Orthopaedics, Queens University, Kingston K7L 3N6, Canada
Author contributions: Alzahrani MM and Alqahtani SM contributed study execution; all authors contributed concept, design, manuscript writing and review.
Institutional review board statement: Not applicable as this was a survey.
Informed consent statement: This study didn't require consent forms from the participants and filling up the survey was considered a consent from the participating surgeons.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of intere st to report.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement - checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement - checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mohammad M Alzahrani, FRCS, MBBS, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, Imam Adulrahman Bin Faisal University, King Faisal Road, Dammam, KSA 34212, Saudi Arabia. mmalzahrani@iau.edu.sa
Received: May 15, 2021
Peer-review started: May 15, 2021
First decision: July 28, 2021
Revised: July 28, 2021
Accepted: September 19, 2021
Article in press: September 19, 2021
Published online: November 18, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Work-related injuries have gained recent attention, especially in the orthopaedic literature. As upper extremity orthopaedic surgical tasks require repetitive and constant maneuvers, these surgeons can be at increased risk of acquiring work-related musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders during their years in practice.

AIM

To assess the prevalence, characteristics and impact of MSK disorders among upper extremity orthopaedic surgeons.

METHODS

A modified version of the physical discomfort survey was sent to surgeons who were members of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons and the Canadian shoulder and elbow society via e-mail. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, and Fisher's exact test. P values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Of the 142 respondents, 90.8% were males and the majority were younger than 55 years old (65.5%). A work-related MSK injury was reported by 89.4% of respondents, of which the most common diagnoses were low back pain (26.1%) and lateral elbow epicondylitis (18.3%). Among those that reported an injury, 82.7% required treatment and 26% required time off work as a direct result of their injury. The need to undergo treatment due to the injury was associated with increased number of injuries (P < 0.01). Moreover, surgeons were more likely to require time off work when they had been in practice for > 21 years (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

A high proportion of surgeons in our survey reported MSK injuries, with more than one quarter of surgeons reported requiring time off work due to an MSK injury. The high incidence of these disorders may place a financial and psychological burden on surgeons and affect their ability to provide patient care. Awareness of operative ergonomics, irrespective of surgical specialty may help to decrease or possibly prevent the occurrence of these disorders.

Keywords: Upper, Extremity, Surgeon, Prevalence, Musculoskeletal, Disorders

Core Tip: A high proportion of surgeons in our survey reported MSK injuries, with more than one quarter of surgeons reported requiring time off work due to an MSK injury. Awareness of operative ergonomics, irrespective of surgical specialty may help to decrease or possibly prevent the occurrence of these disorders.