Exercises help surgeons focus better

Feb 3, 2009 11:18 GMT  ·  By
Surgeons are more likely to perform well in surgeries if they follow a few basic warm-up exercises
   Surgeons are more likely to perform well in surgeries if they follow a few basic warm-up exercises

A new scientific study shows that a simple row of warm-up exercises done before starting a procedure yields far better results in terms of the outcome than no warm-up at all. This conclusion, published in the February issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, is based on observations made on many surgeons who used various techniques to warm up their hands before going into the operating room.

Complicated exercises are not required, just simple moves would suffice, as they are guaranteed to make the surgeon more focused on his or her work, and significantly reduce the incidence of accidents on the operating table.

By performing simple exercises before the actual procedure, surgeons become more prepared both in terms of psycho-motor and cognitive skills, which is very important, considering the fact that the degree of focus each of these doctors have is crucial to the entire procedure, and, naturally, its outcome.

"Warm-up exercises are a 'common sense' practice in many high-stakes professions, such as professional sports or dance. This study begins to lay a scientific foundation for adopting this approach in routine surgical practice, which has become increasingly rigorous and demanding," Kanav Kahol, PhD, from the Arizona State University Department of Biomedical Informatics, in Tempe, US, says.

According to the researcher, the age, specialty, or skill level of the surgeons involved in the research has proved not to be an important factor in determining the outcome of the surgery. Instead, the 46 doctors that participated reported far better results once they used a few warm-up techniques, which even if being very easy to do, had an extremely high importance.

In addition to these results, the researchers behind the recent paper also say that an increased proficiency has also been noticed in fatigued surgeons, even after a very full day. Following the exercises, they were able to perform remarkably well, whereas others that didn't go through with the exercising showed a less accurate performance, in terms of movement and instrument smoothness.