Ergonomics of Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective: There has been a significant expansion in endonasal endoscopic skull base surgery (EES) that has been used to address a wide range of intracranial and sinonasal pathologies. Although there exists a large amount of literature on approaches and patient outcomes, there is a paucity of data describing ergonomics in this field. Our goal was to evaluate and summarize the literature on ergonomics in EES.

Methods: We systematically reviewed all published, peer-reviewed, English language literature in the PubMed and Web of Science databases as screened by multiple reviewers describing ergonomics as related to EES.

Results: A total of 50 articles were found that described significant conclusions and descriptions on ergonomics in EES. We found and summarized the different technical aspects of ergonomics as pertaining to EES and provided evidence-based suggestions on operating room and surgeon setup.

Conclusions: There are several improvements in EES ergonomics that can decrease fatigue, improve efficiency, and overall surgeon well-being.

Keywords: Endoscopic; Ergonomics; Skull base.