Laparoscopic ergonomics in a teaching hospital in Hungary

Laparoscopy has gained wide acceptance, but for the surgeons, it causes several types of musculoskeletal problems: especially, neck, shoulder, elbow and wrist pain. The hypothesis of our study was that the higher the laparoscopic monitor, the more problems the surgeon will experience.

Three surgeons took part in the study, performed between December 2021 and May 2023. Participants had to fill out a form with a Likert scale immediately after surgery discussing neck, shoulder, elbow and wrist pain as well as the overall strain of the operation.

Altogether 50 operations were analyzed. There was more neck pain reported in the “high group”. We found no correlation between tower height and wrist and shoulder pain.

According to the result of this study, the higher the monitor is on the laparoscopy tower; the more neck pain will be experienced by the surgeon.