Survey: Nearly half of orthopedic surgeons sustain an occupational injury during their careers

Nearly half of orthopedic surgeons have sustained at least one work-related injury during their careers, and in many cases, the available institutional resources are inadequate, according to results of a recently published study.

“Some of these injuries were significant, having an impact on operating room performance and causing the surgeon to lose 3 [weeks] or 4 weeks of work,” Manish K. Sethi, MD, from the Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Institute Center for Health Policy in Nashville, Tenn., stated in a press release. “These results would suggest that we need to think about the resources available to orthopedic surgeons, given that this volume of missed work may have economic implications for both the surgeons and their health care systems.”

Sethi and colleagues reviewed the results of 140 surveys from orthopedic surgeons who were asked whether they sustained an occupational injury during their career. Overall, 44% of orthopedic surgeons surveyed had sustained a work-related injury during their career, and 38% of those surveyed noted a lack of institutional resources was available to help recover from the injury.

Surgeons with a career between 21 years and 30 years were significantly more likely to have an occupational injury. Specifically, 19% of surveyed surgeons reported a hand injury, 10% reported a neck injury, 7% reported a shoulder injury and 6% reported an unspecified injury.

“In addition, only about 25% of respondents said they had reported their injury to their institution,” Sethi said.

Of the surgeons surveyed, 10% noted that they missed work, with 4% missing at least 3 weeks of work, according to the abstract.

Reference:

Davis WT. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2013;doi:10.2106/JBJS.L.01427.

Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.