Exoskeleton Mitigates Risk of Posture-Related Neck Pain Among Practicing Surgeons

Background: Few studies evaluate the potential for wearable mechanical devices to mitigate the risk of musculoskeletal strain related to posture maintained during operations. Objective: To evaluate the potential for a wearable neck and back brace to mitigate the risk of surgeons experiencing head, neck, and back pain during prolonged operations. Design: Single-center, nonrandomized clinical trial. Participants/Methods: 12 surgeons at risk of developing neck pain and related injuries from a variety of subspecialties performed 4 procedures each: 2 while wearing a specially designed carbon-fiber neck and back brace and 2 without. Symptoms of generalized fatigue and body part-specific discomfort were measured by a survey of the surgeons completed after the procedures. Surgeons also wore inertial measurement units that measured angles of body parts and categorized the posture by potential risk of injury. Results: 12 surgeons performed 48 procedures with an average duration of 2 hours and more...