OCCUPATIONAL INJURY AMONGST ORTHOPEDIC SURGEONS (Orthopedics This Week)
Manish Sethi, M.D., assistant professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is enlightening his colleagues about the injuries that can occur in the OR. He and his team set out to determine the prevalence and types of injuries that orthopedic surgeons sustained in the workplace.
Dr. Sethi and his co-authors developed and distributed electronic surveys to every orthopedic surgeon in Tennessee—495 individuals. A total of 140 surveys were returned, with representation from all orthopedic subspecialties. Sixty-one (44%) of the respondents reported sustaining one or more injuries at the workplace. A significant association was found between years performing surgery and prevalence of injury, with surgeons working between 21 and 30 years reporting the most injuries.
Fourteen (10%) of the surgeons reported missing work as a result of an occupational injury, most of which were result of injuries to the hand and the back. Five (4%) missed at least three weeks of work. Twenty-three surgeons (37% of injured respondents) reported that no institutional resources were available to suppor...
