Historically, veterinarians working in general practice were frequently exposed to the risk of personal injury inflicted upon them by the animals under their care. Such injuries ranged from penetrating, blunt or crushing trauma from a large animal through to bite wounds and scratches from small animals. Fortunately, with the evolution of better protocols for restraint, sedation and anaesthesia, the risk of such injuries has been reduced considerably.
However, the results of a recent survey published in this issue of Veterinary and Comparative Orthopaedics and Traumatology (VCOT) found that work-related musculoskeletal symptoms, including pain and discomfort, were exceedingly common amongst specialist veterinary surgeons.[1] The poor ergonomics associated with prolonged or static posture during surgery, repetitive tasks and forceful exertion have been proposed previously as a causative factor for these symptoms of pain and discomfort. Perhaps also, with the growth of specialization in the veterinary profession, our work patterns are much more homogeneous. In particular, specialist veterinary surgeons often spend many hours every working day standing at the surgery table in a static posture.
Respondents to this survey were about two-thirds small animal surgeons and one-third large animal. Amongst this cohort of surgeons (n = 212), 93% reported suffering musculoskeletal symptoms. The most common locations were lower back (75%), neck (74%) and upper back (53%). Many of these complaints were worse after prolonged surgery, and they persisted for days afterwards. Eighty-five per cent of these veterinary surgeons had concerns about the impact of these symptoms on the longevity of their career as a surgeon.
Apart from the effort of simply standing at the surgery table, surgery must be executed with skill, careful precision and a steady hand. Such dexterity might require repetitive motion such as drilling bone and screw insertion, or considerable force such as fracture reduction. So perhaps it is not surprising that the survey found that the next most common location of complaint amongst the surveyed surgeons who were mostly right-handed dominant was the right wrist and hand (52%). Recent studies of the ergonomics of human surgeons performing procedures such as minimally invasive surgery have used wearable motion tracking sensors. No similar studies have investigated the ergonomics of surgeon posture or motion during operations in veterinary surgery.[1] However, it is encouraging to note that the Purdue group has begun investigations into the feasibility of such studies.[2] We look forward to reading more about this important topic.
