Ergonomics and Related Physical Symptoms Among Neurosurgeons.

OBJECTIVE: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among neurosurgeons can lead to consequences for themselves, the hospital, and society. In the current study, the working conditions of neurosurgeons from an ergonomic point of view is evaluated, together with WMSD. METHODS: Members of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons were surveyed with an online survey covering 1) demographics, 2) working conditions, 3) ergonomic features during 3 neurosurgical procedures, and 4) whether they experienced WMSD. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with experiencing WMSD. RESULTS: In total, 417 replies were received. Respondents had a mean tenure of 21.9 years. In total, 33.1% stated that the operating room is furnished ergonomically and 90.7% stated that ergonomics is an underexposed field in neurosurgery. The majority of the respondents (73.6%) had experienced WMSD. Performing long procedures and spine surgery were mentioned most often as cause for WMSD. Due to WMSD, 11.3% of the respondents had to take time off work, and 14.2% considered changing their career. Analgesics were mostly used as treatment for WMSD (42.9%) and 7.4% underwent surgery. Having a tenure ≤15 years and having the operating room furnished ergonomically were associated with less WMSD in univariate analysis, whereas only a tenure <15 years was in multivariate analysis (odds ratio 0.27; 95% confidence interval 0.085-0.831). CONCLUSIONS: Despite only a minority of the surgeons taking time off due to WMSD, the majority suffers from WMSD. Education of residents in ergonomics to prevent WMSD in their later careers and ergonomic furnishing of surgical instrumentation and operating rooms seem to be areas for improvement.

The evidence for pharmacologic treatment of neuropathic cancer pain: beneficial and adverse effects.

CONTEXT: The prevalence of neuropathic pain in patients with cancer pain has been estimated to be around 40%. Neuropathic pain may be caused by tumor invasion and is considered as mixed nociceptive-neuropathic pain, or caused by an anticancer treatment and considered as purely neuropathic pain. The use of adjuvant analgesics in patients with cancer is usually extrapolated from their efficacy in nononcological neuropathic pain syndromes. OBJECTIVES: In this systematic review, we sought to evaluate the evidence for the beneficial and adverse effects of pharmacologic treatment of neuropathic cancer pain. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature in PubMed and Embase was performed. Primary outcome measures were absolute risk benefit (ARB), defined as the number of patients with a defined degree of pain relief divided by the total number of patients in the treatment group, and absolute risk harm (ARH), defined as the fraction of patients who dropped out as a result of adverse effects. RESULTS: We identified 30 articles that fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Overall, ARB of antidepressants, anticonvulsants, other adjuvant analgesics, or opioids greatly outweighed ARH. There were no significant differences in ARB or ARH between the four groups of medication or between patients with mixed vs. purely neuropathic pain. Because of the low methodological quality of the studies, we could not draw conclusions about the true treatment effect size of the four groups of medications. CONCLUSION: Once a diagnosis of neuropathic pain has been established in patients with cancer, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, or other adjuvant analgesics should be considered in addition to or instead of opioids.