Alzahrani MM, Alqahtani SM, Pichora D, Bicknell R. Work-related musculoskeletal injuries among upper extremity surgeons: A web-based survey. World J Orthop 2021; 12(11): 891-898 [PMID: 34888149 DOI: 10.5312/wjo.v12.i11.891]
Corresponding Author of This Article
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
Research Domain of This Article
Orthopedics
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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/
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 Processing time: 184 Days and 12.9 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Upper extremity orthopaedic surgical tasks require repetitive and constant maneuvers, which can put them at increased risk of acquiring work-related musculoskeletal disorders during their years in practice.
Research motivation
As these injuries may place a psychological burden on the surgeon and affect the healthcare system, attention should be directed at studying their prevalence and associated factors.
Research objectives
To assess the prevalence, characteristics and impact of musculoskeletal disorders among upper extremity orthopaedic surgeons.
Research 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.
Research results
A work-related musculoskeletal injury was reported by 89.4% of respondents, of which the most common diagnoses were low back pain and lateral elbow epicondylitis.
Research conclusions
Musculoskeletal injuries were reported by a high proportion of our surveyed cohort of upper extremity surgeons, with more than a quarter of them requiring time off work.
Research perspectives
Specific attention should be directed towards improving ergonomics and safety in the operative room to help decrease the high prevalence of these injuries in the future.
