Just like elite athletes, surgeons need to warm up before reaching optimal performance, according to research led by the University of Leeds.
According to the authors of the study, published in the British Journal of Surgery, surgeons should look at re-ordering their operating lists, starting the day with simpler cases and building up to the more difficult procedures. Rather than having a mix of cases, surgeons should try and group similar cases together so they are repeatedly performing the same procedure, they say. Doing so, the researchers say, would result in surgeons completing operations more quickly, reducing costly theatre time and potentially improving patient outcomes.
The study used theatre lists involving the 35 procedures performed most frequently by senior surgeons across 38 private hospitals in the UK over 26 months. Linear mixed-effects model and matched analysis were used to estimate the impact of list order and the cost of switching between procedures on a list while controlling for key prognosticators.
After controlling for factors that affect the outcomes of surgery, the data showed that surgeons completed the second operation on a list more quickly than the first. The reduction in operating time was consistent across the majority of procedures analysed and amounted to just over 6 per cent of operating time. If surgeons switched between procedures, there was a lengthening of time taken to complete the new technique, by on average just under 6.5 per cent.
Surgeon Thomas Pike, from the University of Leeds who co-authored the research, said: "What the study shows is that there is a natural process where surgeons 'warm-up' as they work their way through their operating list, and that is particularly so where they are doing the same procedure repeatedly.
"What was startling about the research was that these findings came from an analysis of the records of experienced surgeons. It is possible that the benefits in reduced operating times might be even greater with less experienced surgeons - although more research is needed to confirm that."
The team is now looking at the use of virtual and augmented reality techniques to help surgeons warm up for extremely challenging procedures.