Abstract
Laparoscopic surgeries are associated with less severe postoperative pain, shorter hospitalization and shorter inability to work. Despite the many advantages for patients, laparoscopic surgery causes certain ergonomic risks for surgeons, such as loss of freedom during surgical maneuvers, maintenance of forced body postures for long periods, and inappropriate arm and wrist flexion, bending, and twisting. Therefore, the aim of this study was to measure, and analyze the working postures during laparoscopic surgeries using rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) tool. Sixteen subjects performed simulated laparoscopic tasks, such as peg transfer, and precision cutting. Two cameras were used to capture the motions occurred on the frontal and sagittal planes. It was concluded that laparoscopic instruments should be designed in a way that reduces arms and wrist inappropriate postures in order to keep upper arms at the sides of their body, and avoiding pressure points on hands and fingers.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Nguyen, N.T., Ho, H.S., Smith, W.D., Philipps, C., Lewis, C., De Vera, R.M., Berguer, R.: An ergonomic evaluation of surgeons’ axial skeletal and upper extremity movements during laparoscopic and open surgery. Am. J. Surg. 182, 720–724 (2001)
Fisher, K.S., Reddick, E.J., Olsen, D.O.: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: cost analysis. Surg. Laparosc. Endosc. 1, 77–81 (1991)
Vereczkel, A., Bupp, H., Feussner, H.: Laparoscopic surgery and ergonomics—It’s time to think on ourselves as well. Surg. Endosc. 17, 1680–1682 (2003)
Pérez-Duarte, F.J., Sánchez-Margallo, F.M., Díaz-Güemes, I., Sánchez-Hurtado, M.Á., Lucas-Hernández, M., Usón, J.: Ergonomics in laparoscopic surgery and its importance in surgical training. Cir Esp. 90, 284–291 (2012)
Berguer, R.: Surgical technology and the ergonomics of laparoscopic instruments. Surg. Endosc. 12(5), 458–462 (1998)
Matern, U., Eichenlaub, M., Waller, P., Ruckauer, K.: MIS instruments. An experimental comparison of various ergonomic handles and their design. Surg. Endosc. 13, 756–762 (1999)
Trejo, A.E., Doné, K.N., Dimartino, A.A., Oleynikov, D., Hallbeck, M.S.: Articulating vs. conventional laparoscopic grasping tools – surgeons’ opinions. Int. J. Ind. Ergonom. 36, 25–35 (2006)
Trejo, A.E., Jung, M., Oleynikov, D., Hallbeck, M.S.: Effect of handle design and target location on insertion and aim with a laparoscopic surgical tool. Appl. Ergon. 38, 745–753 (2007)
Van Veelen, M., Nederlof, E., Goossens, R., Schot, C., Jakimowicz, J.: Ergonomic problems encountered by the medical team related to products used for minimally invasive surgery. Surg. Endosc. 17, 1077–1081 (2003)
Avinash, N., Gaurav, V., Kulkarni, A.: Ergonomics in laparoscopic surgery. J. Minim. Access Surg. 6, 31–36 (2010)
McAtamney, L., Corlett, E.: RULA: a survey method for the investigation of work-related upper limb disorders. Appl. Ergon. 24, 91–99 (1993)
Lee, E.C., Rafiq, A., Merrell, R., Ackerman, R., Dennerlein, J.: Ergonomics and human factors in endoscopic surgery: a comparison of manual vs telerobotic simulation systems. Surg. Endosc. 19, 1064–1070 (2005)
Waters, T.R., Dick, R.B.: Evidence of Health risks associated with prolonged standing at work and intervention effectiveness. Rehabil. Nurs. 40, 148–165 (2014)
Berguer, R., Forkey, D.L., Smith, W.D.: Ergonomic problems associated with laparoscopic surgery. Surg. Endosc. 13(5), 466–468 (1999)
Uhrich, M.L., Underwood, R.A., Standeven, J.W., Soper, N.J., Engsberg, J.R.: Assessment of fatigue, monitor placement, and surgical experience during simulated laparoscopic surgery. Surg. Endosc. 16(4), 635–639 (2002)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Alamoudi, M. (2020). Investigation and Analysis of Ergonomic Risk Factors Associated with Laparoscopic Surgeries Using Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) Tool. In: Kalra, J., Lightner, N. (eds) Advances in Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare and Medical Devices. AHFE 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1205. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50838-8_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50838-8_25
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-50837-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-50838-8
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)