Do Gastrointestinal Endoscopists Suffer From Procedure-Related Musculoskeletal Symptoms?

Main Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology
Also Included In: Bones / Orthopaedics;  Body Aches
Article Date: 24 Sep 2008 - 12:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Work-related musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is common among individuals whose job requires repetitive isometric maneuvers or awkward body positions. However, the prevalence of MSD among endoscopists is not well known. There are neither detailed descriptions nor analyses of the severity of the symptoms, risk factors, and management in eastern countries.

A research article to be published on July 21, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The survey led by Prof. Lee from Samsung Medical Center of Sungkyunkwan University in Korea investigated 55 endoscopists practicing in 4 general hospitals and 2 health promotion centers. Data about age, gender, duration of practicing endoscopy, underlying musculoskeletal disease, and postures and habits during endoscopy were collected.

Forty-nine (89.1%) endoscopists reported musculoskeletal pain on at least one anatomic location.

Forty endoscopists (72.7%) had pain at more than one anatomic location. Thirty-seven endoscopists (67.3%) had pain at rest. Twenty-six (47.3%) endoscopists had severe musculoskeletal pain defined as a visual analogue score larger than 5.5. Factors related to the development of severe pain were (1) standing position during the upper endoscopy, (2) specific posture/habit during the endoscopic procedure, and (3) multiple symptomatic areas. In this study, the experience level of endoscopists was not related to the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain, the number of symptomatic areas, and severity of the most painful regions. However, they found the different distribution of the symptomatic areas. Finger pain was more common in beginners, whereas shoulder pain was more common in experienced endoscopists, suggesting multiple ergonomic mechanisms of symptom development. The exact reason of this difference is unclear, but muscles and/or joints frequently used during the endoscopic procedure may be different by the endoscopic experience.

They also found that sixteen percent of symptomatic endoscopists have modified their practice or decreased the number of endoscopic examinations. Only a few symptomatic endoscopists have sought the professional consultation of related specialists. Measures for the prevention and the adequate management of the endoscopy-related musculoskeletal symptoms are necessary.

----------------------------
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
----------------------------

Reference: Byun YH, Lee JH, Park MK, Song JH, Min BH, Chang DK, Kim YH, Son HJ, Rhee PL, Kim JJ, Rhee JC. Procedure-related musculoskeletal symptoms among gastrointestinal endoscopists in Korea. World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14(27): 4359-4364 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/4359.asp

Correspondence to: Jun Haeng Lee, MD, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Irwon-Dong 50, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea.

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection. It provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the title China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

About The WJG Press

The WJG Press mainly publishes World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Source: Lai-Fu Li
World Journal of Gastroenterology