Accumulating research is revealing the scope of occupational injuries to providers in the endoscopy suite. Repetitive movements, high procedural volume and lack of foundational ergonomic education mean endoscopists are prone to occupational injuries, resulting in missed or unproductive workdays and increased disability. New research presented at Digestive Disease Week 2023 shows that approximately two-thirds have reported an injury and about one-third are currently in pain.
7 in 10 Endoscopists
Two new meta-analyses have demonstrated much the same results as previous single-center surveys: Around two-thirds of endoscopists are reporting injuries; many of them are injuries to the back. In one meta-analysis of 18 studies involving around 5,000 endoscopists, 65% reported endoscopy-related injuries. Just shy of 10% said they missed workdays or reported low productivity on workdays, and 1% developed long-term disability as a result of their injuries. In addition, nearly 70% said they would like to be trained in ergonomics, while only 37% reported they had received such training, according to researcher Achintya D. Singh, MD, MBBS, a first-year GI fellow at MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland (abstract Sa1146).