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Warm‐up before laparoscopic surgery is not essential
Author(s) -
Weston Maree K.,
Stephens Jacqueline H.,
Schafer Amy,
Hewett Peter J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
anz journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.426
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 1445-1433
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-2197.2012.06321.x
Subject(s) - medicine , laparoscopic surgery , demographics , randomized controlled trial , laparoscopic cholecystectomy , modalities , surgery , laparoscopy , statistical significance , general surgery , social science , demography , sociology
Background Several recent studies have suggested that warming up prior to surgery may improve surgical performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether warming up prior to laparoscopic surgery improves surgical performance or reduces surgery duration. Methods Between A ugust 2011 and J anuary 2012, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare two warm‐up modalities to no warm‐up. The study was conducted at a single site, with nine surgeons performing 72 laparoscopic cholecystectomies and 37 laparoscopic appendicectomies. Prior to surgery, surgeons were randomized to either laparoscopic trainer box warm‐up, PlayStation 2 warm‐up or no warm‐up. The activity was performed within 30 min of surgery commencing. Patients provided informed consent for the surgery to be digitally recorded. Digital videodiscs ( DVD s) were reviewed by an independent and blinded assessor. Data were collected on duration of surgery, level of training and perceived surgical difficulty. Surgical performance was graded using a validated scoring system. Results From the 109 operations performed, there were 75 usable DVD s. Overall, there were no statistical differences in the demographics of patients and surgeons in the three treatment groups, nor in the subset that had useable DVD s. There were no statistical differences in the duration of surgery or surgeon's perceived surgical difficulty. There was no statistical difference in surgical performance. Conclusions This study suggests that warm‐up prior to laparoscopic cholecystectomy or appendicectomy is not essential, acknowledging that there are several study limitations that preclude definitive conclusion.