SRS06 - The Surgeon Athlete: a literature review of exercise-based interventions to reduce work-related pain in surgeons

Abstract Introduction Surgeons have a high prevalence of neck and back pain (NABP) due to the physicality and postural strain of long operating hours. Such difficulties likely lead to more sick days and less active work. Surgical training gives little emphasis to the importance of physical fitness and exercise programs in reducing work-related neck and back pain or improving surgical performance. Methods A literature review of exercise-based interventions and their efficacy in reducing NABP in surgeons over the last decade. The search included OVID, EMBASE, TRIP Pro and a grey literature search of Royal College of Surgeons of England, Ireland, Edinburgh and Glasgow, plus NHS websites. Results were categorised by intervention type, and interventions and pain scoring methodologies were reviewed. The location and subspecialty of each study was recorded. Results 1539 papers were identified through the search. 207 were relevant after initial sifting; other exclusions were prevalence studies (93) and ergonomic device studies (89). Papers included interventional studies (17), review articles (3) and guidance documents (3). Studies covered a range of surgical subspecialties. Interventional studies found improvement in surgeon pain scores through exercise, but were limited by cohort size, consistency of pain reporting, and study length. Exercise-based interventions included resistance, app-based exercise programmes, intra-operative exercises and ergonomic exercise training. Conclusions This literature review demonstrated evidence for exercise-based interventions reducing work-based NABP in surgeons. However, it also demonstrates the paucity of research pertaining to exercise-based interventions for reducing neck and back pain amongst surgeons, especially within the UK.