Effect of a shoulder/arm exoskeleton for surgeons on postoperative bodily complaints

A total of 25 participants were included and performed 50 surgeries with a mean surgery duration of 144 min without and 138 min with exoskeleton. Without the exoskeleton, the activity of the operation resulted in a significant increase of the VAS neck by 1.0 points (SD 1.2, p < 0.001), NDI by 4.8 (SD 8.6; p = 0.010), VAS back by 0.7 (SD 1.0, p = 0.002), and ODI by 2.7 (SD 4.1, p = 0.003). With the exoskeleton the the participants reported about significant less complaints after the surgery (VAS neck: p = 0.001, NDI: p = 0.003, VAS back: p = 0.036, ODI: p = 0.036, SPADI: p = 0.016) Conclusion: An upper body exoskeleton can significantly reduce the discomfort in the neck, shoulder and back caused to surgeons by surgery.