The impact of intraoperative microbreaks with exercises on surgeons: A multi-center cohort study

- Surgeons report high prevalence of neck, shoulder and back pain and discomfort.
- Intraoperative microbreaks/stretches did not significantly increase surgical duration.
- Microbreaks improved self-reported physical performance and mental focus.
- Body part discomfort improved (significantly for shoulders) with microbreaks.
- 87% of surgeons wanted to incorporate microbreaks with stretches in their OR routine.

Recent literature has demonstrated ergonomic risk to surgeons in the operating room. One method used in other industries to mitigate these ergonomic risks is the incorporation of microbreaks. Thus, intraoperative microbreaks with exercises in a non-crossover design were studied. Fifty-six attending surgeons from 4 Medical Centers volunteered first in a day of their regular surgeries and then second day where there were microbreaks with exercises that could be performed in the sterile field, answering questions after each case, without significantly increasing the duration of their surgeries. Surgeons self-reported improvement or no change in their mental focus (88%) and physical performance (100%) for the surgical day incorporating microbreaks with exercises. Discomfort in the shoulders was significantly reduced while distractions and flow impact was minimal. Eighty-seven percent of the surgeons wanted to incorporate the microbreaks with exercises into their OR routine. Intraoperative microbreaks with exercises may be a way to mitigate work-related musculoskeletal fatigue, pain and injury.