The following is a summary of “Demands of surgical teams in robotic-assisted surgery: An assessment of intraoperative workload within different surgical specialties,” published in the SEPTEMBER 2023 issue of Surgery by Zamudio, et al.
In the context of robotic-assisted surgery (RAS), workload assessment has primarily focused on surgeons with limited real-world data. For a study, researchers sought to understand how workload varies among different roles and specialties, which was crucial for optimizing workload effectively.
SURG-TLX surveys, which encompass six workload domains, were administered to the surgical staff at three medical sites. Staff members reported their perceptions of workload for each domain using a 20-point Likert scale, and aggregate scores were calculated for each participant.
A total of 188 questionnaires were collected from 90 RAS procedures. The results indicated significantly higher aggregate workload scores for gynecology (Median = 30.00) (P = 0.034) and urology (Median = 36.50) (P = 0.006) compared to general surgery (Median = 25.00). Surgeons reported significantly higher scores for task complexity (Median = 8.00) compared to both technicians (Median = 5.00) (P = 0.007) and nurses (Median = 5.00).
The study revealed that staff experienced significantly higher workloads during urology and gynecology procedures. Moreover, there were notable differences in workload domains based on the roles and specialties of the staff. The findings underscored the importance of tailoring workload interventions to specific surgical specialties and roles within the RAS team.
Source: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(23)00263-5/fulltext
