Doenças ocupacionais e princípios ergonômicos voltados à formação de profissionais da Odontologia / Occupational diseases and ergonomic principles aimed at training dentistry professionals

Introdução: a alta demanda diária para desempenhar os serviços, aliada ao descuido com o bem-estar laboral, acaba causando uma má postura na hora dos atendimentos, acarretando problemas osteomusculares, dor e, consequentemente, doenças ocupacionais. Objetivo: avaliar o conhecimento dos acadêmicos nos diferentes semestres do curso de Odontologia de uma instituição de ensino superior situada na cidade de Vitória da Conquista ­ Bahia, acerca dos princípios ergonômicos aplicados à prática clínica, além de investigar sintomas associados às doenças ocupacionais. Metodologia: foram selecionados, de forma aleatória, 186 alunos matriculados nas clínicas da faculdade, os quais foram convidados a responder a dois questionários contendo perguntas relacionadas ao conceito de ergonomia e a doenças ocupacionais na Odontologia. Foi aplicado o teste qui-quadradro de Pearson; nos casos em que a frequência esperada foi menor que cinco (n < 5), foi utilizado o teste exato de Fisher (p<0,05). Resultados: cerca de 69% dos graduandos demonstraram total insciênciasobre a ergonomia, 87% apresentaram pouco conhecimento a respeito das doenças ocupacionais da Odontologia, 75% consideraram insatisfatório o conhecimento sobre ergonomia na faculdade e cerca de 76% queixaram-se de dores osteomusculares em pelo menos um local anatômico do seu corpo. Conclusão: o presente estudo demonstrou o pouco conhecimento dos estudantes Oe odontologia a respeito dessa temática e o possível desenvolvimento de doenças osteomusculares ainda na graduação.

Introduction: The high daily demand to perform the services allied to the carelessness with the job well-being lead to a bad posture at the appointments, causing musculoskeletal problems, pain, and, consequently, occupational diseases. Objective: to evaluate the knowledge of students in the different semesters of the Dentistry course of a Higher Education Institution located in the city of Vitória da Conquista - Bahia, on the ergonomic principles applied to clinical practice, and investigate the symptoms associated with occupational diseases. Methodology: 186 students enrolled in the college clinics were randomly selected and invited to answer two questionnaires, containing questions related to the concept of ergonomics and occupational diseases in dentistry. Pearson's chi-square test was applied; in cases that the expected frequency was less than five (n<5), Fisher´s exact test was used (p<0.05). Results: around 69% of the undergraduates demonstrated total unawareness about ergonomics, 87% had little knowledge about occupational diseases in Dentistry, 75% consider the knowledge about ergonomics in college unsatisfactory, and about 76% complained of musculoskeletal pain in at least one anatomical site of their body. Conclusion: the presente study demonstrated Dentistry students have little knowledge about this theme and the possible development of musculoskeletal diseases while still in the undergraduate course.

Initial experience of a novel ergonomic surgical chair for laparoscopic pelvic surgery

INTRODUCTION: We present the initial experience of a novel surgical chair for laparoscopic pelvic surgery, the ETHOS TM (Bridge City Surgical, Portland, OR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The ETHOS chair has an adjustable saddle height that ranges from 0.89 to 1.22 m high, an overall width of 0.89 m, and a depth of 0.97 m. The open straddle is 0.53 m and fits most OR tables. We performed 7 pelvic laparoscopy cases with the 1st generation ETHOS TM platform including 2 laparoscopic ureteral reimplantations, 5 laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomies for staging prostate cancer in which one case involved a laparoscopic radical retropubic prostatectomy, performed by 2 different surgeons. RESULTS: All 7 pelvic laparoscopic procedures were successful with the ETHOS TM chair. No conversion to open surgery was necessary. Survey done by surgeons after the procedures revealed minimal stress on back or upper extremities by the surgeons from these operations even when surgery was longer than 120 minutes. Conversely, the surgical assistants still had issues with their positions since they were on either sides of the patient stressing their positions during the procedure. CONCLUSION:The ETHOS chair system allows the surgeon to operate seated in comfortable position with ergonomic chest, arms, and back supports. These supports minimize surgeon fatigue and discomfort during pelvic laparoscopic procedures even when these procedures are longer than 120 minutes without consequence to the patient safety or detrimental effects to the surgical team.