• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SAGES

Reimagining surgical care for a healthier world

  • Home
    • COVID-19 Annoucements
    • Search
    • SAGES Home
    • SAGES Foundation Home
  • About
    • Who is SAGES?
    • SAGES Mission Statement
    • Strategic Plan, 2020-2023
    • Committees
      • Request to Join a SAGES Committee
      • SAGES Board of Governors
      • Officers and Representatives of the Society
      • Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs
      • Full Committee Rosters
      • SAGES Past Presidents
    • Donate to the SAGES Foundation
    • Awards
      • George Berci Award
      • Pioneer in Surgical Endoscopy
      • Excellence In Clinical Care
      • International Ambassador
      • IRCAD Visiting Fellowship
      • Social Justice and Health Equity
      • Excellence in Community Surgery
      • Distinguished Service
      • Early Career Researcher
      • Researcher in Training
      • Jeff Ponsky Master Educator
      • Excellence in Medical Leadership
      • Barbara Berci Memorial Award
      • Brandeis Scholarship
      • Advocacy Summit
      • RAFT Annual Meeting Abstract Contest and Awards
  • Meetings
    • NBT Innovation Weekend
    • SAGES Annual Meeting
      • 2023 Scientific Session Call For Abstracts
      • 2023 Emerging Technology Call For Abstracts
    • SAGES 2021 Annual Meeting
    • CME Claim Form
    • Industry
      • Advertising Opportunities
      • Exhibit Opportunities
      • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Future Meetings
    • Past Meetings
      • SAGES 2021
      • SAGES 2020
      • SAGES 2019
      • SAGES 2018
    • Related Meetings Calendar
  • Join SAGES!
    • Membership Benefits
    • Membership Applications
      • Active Membership
      • Affiliate Membership
      • Associate Active Membership
      • Candidate Membership
      • International Membership
      • Medical Student Membership
    • Member News
      • Member Spotlight
      • Give the Gift of SAGES Membership
  • Patients
    • Healthy Sooner – Patient Information for Minimally Invasive Surgery
    • Patient Information Brochures
    • Choosing Wisely – An Initiative of the ABIM Foundation
    • All in the Recovery: Colorectal Cancer Alliance
    • Find a SAGES Member
  • Publications
    • SAGES Stories Podcast
    • SAGES Clinical / Practice / Training Guidelines, Statements, and Standards of Practice
    • Patient Information Brochures
    • TAVAC – Technology and Value Assessments
    • Surgical Endoscopy and Other Journal Information
    • SAGES Manuals
    • SCOPE – The SAGES Newsletter
    • COVID-19 Annoucements
    • Troubleshooting Guides
  • Education
    • OpiVoid.org
    • SAGES.TV Video Library
    • Safe Cholecystectomy Program
      • Safe Cholecystectomy Didactic Modules
    • Masters Program
      • SAGES Facebook Program Collaboratives
      • Acute Care Surgery
      • Bariatric
      • Biliary
      • Colorectal
      • Flexible Endoscopy (upper or lower)
      • Foregut
      • Hernia
      • Robotics
    • Educational Opportunities
    • HPB/Solid Organ Program
    • Courses for Residents
      • Advanced Courses
      • Basic Courses
    • Video Based Assessments (VBA)
    • Robotics Fellows Course
    • MIS Fellows Course
    • Facebook Livestreams
    • Free Webinars For Residents
    • SMART Enhanced Recovery Program
    • SAGES OR SAFETY Video
    • SAGES at Cine-Med
      • SAGES Top 21 MIS Procedures
      • SAGES Pearls
      • SAGES Flexible Endoscopy 101
      • SAGES Tips & Tricks of the Top 21
  • Opportunities
    • SAGES Fellowship Certification for Advanced GI MIS and Comprehensive Flexible Endoscopy
    • Foregut Fellowship Certification
    • SAGES Research Opportunities
    • Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery
    • Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery
    • Fundamental Use of Surgical Energy
    • Job Board
    • SAGES Go Global: Global Affairs and Humanitarian Efforts
  • Search
    • Search All SAGES Content
    • Search SAGES Guidelines
    • Search the Video Library
    • Search the Image Library
    • Search the Abstracts Archive
  • Store
    • SAGES Logo Products
    • “Unofficial” Logo Products
  • Log In

Evaluating the Effect of Implementatioon of Ergonomic Principles Into Laparoscopic Tool Handle Design On Surgeon Performance and Efficiency

Kryztopher D Tung, MS, Rami M Shorti, MS, Earl C Downey, MD, Donald S Bloswick, PhD, Andrew S Merryweather, PhD. Mechanical Engineering Dept., University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Introduction: A multitude of factors can affect a surgeon’s performance in the operating room; these may include surgeon comfort and skill level, tool handle ergonomics, and fatigue. The goal of this study is to quantify the effects of ergonomic laparoscopic tool handle design on surgeon performance and task completion efficiency. A laparoscopic tool handle designed with ergonomic considerations (pistol-grip) was tested against a current market tool with a traditional (pinch-grip) handle.We hypothesized that there will be a measurable difference between the efficiency of FLS surgical trainer tasks of the pistol-grip versus the pinch-grip laparoscopic tool handle designs in three categories: time to completion, technical skill, and subjective user ratings.
Methods and Procedures: The pistol-grip incorporates an ergonomic interface intended to promote a more neutral operating posture, and influence the degree of hand tremor and fatigue while reducing contact stress points on the hand and fingers. The pinch-grip is a widely used current market tool. Twenty-three (13 M, 10 F) naïve participants (medical students) with no existing upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders were selected for this study. During a training session prior to testing, participants performed practice trials in a SAGES FLS trainer with both tools. During data collection, participants performed three evaluation tasks with each tool. These consisted of a peg transfer task, a cutting task, and a suturing task. Two participants (1M, 1F) were excluded from the final analysis due to incomplete or missing data.
Results: Quantified survey feedback (Figure 1) from test participants significantly favors the pistol-grip in every category (P<0.05). While there was no significant interaction between tool type and errors (P>0.7) made during trials, time to trial completion was significantly lower for the pistol-grip tool during cutting (P=0.001) and peg transfer (P=0.007) tasks (Table 1). While there was no difference for the suturing task (P=0.586), it is important to note that the needle grasper was the same for both tools and was used in the dominant hand.
Conclusions: These findings favor the pistol-grip design and are part of a much larger study to quantify the effect of laparoscopic tool handle design on upper extremity biomechanics. Further testing with professionally trained laparoscopic surgeons in a more realistic test environment is needed to evaluate performance metrics including contact stress, posture, muscle fatigue, and economy of movement.

132

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Reddit

Related

« Return to SAGES 2014 abstract archive

Our Mission

Innovate, educate and collaborate to improve patient care.

Recently, on SAGES…

Surgery is Safer with Vaccination 1

Addressing Religious Concerns About COVID-19 Vaccine

This may be a difficult subject matter for you and your patient to talk about.  Be assured, all major organized religious groups encourage and recommend the COVID-19 vaccine. Listed below are references and websites you can direct your patient towards to help them make an informed decision with regards to their religious concerns against the […]

SAGES Statement on AAPI Violence

The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) stands in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. In the summer of 2020, SAGES released a statement condemning the violence, racism, and hatred toward the Black community in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders. It is with great sorrow […]

Free SAGES Webinar: Lessons from COVID on Living and Thriving as Surgeons

SAGES recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact on surgical practice and in surgeon wellness. SAGES’ Reimagining the Practice of Surgery Taskforce will present “Finding the Opportunities: Lessons from COVID and How We Live and Thrive as Surgeons”  to look at ways in which innovative leadership at various levels may help transform […]

Contact SAGES

Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons
11300 W. Olympic Blvd Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90064 USA
[email protected]
Tel: (310) 437-0544

Find Us Around the Web!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Important Links

SAGES 2022 Meeting Information

Healthy Sooner: Patient Information

SAGES Guidelines, Statements, & Standards of Practice

SAGES Manuals

 

  • taTME Study Info
  • Foundation
  • SAGES.TV
  • MyCME
  • Educational Activities

Copyright © 2022 Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons