Implementing mindfulness meditation in hand surgery training: a feasibility study

Abstract

Background: Surgery can be stressful, requiring decision-making and performance under pressure. The COVID-19 pandemic has further challenged surgeons' well-being and training. Excess stress adversely affects well-being, technical and non-technical performance, and, by extension, patient care. Little emphasis has been placed on interventions to improve individual surgeons' stress resilience despite mindfulness training being robustly linked to resilience, well-being, and improved executive function and performance. This feasibility study aimed to evaluate the effect and acceptability of a mindfulness meditation session on a group of surgical trainees during a hand fracture fixation course.

Methods: All participants of a single-day hand fracture fixation course were invited to take part in the study, and randomised into two groups. The intervention group experienced a 10-min guided meditation session before their assessment, while the control group did not. Basic demographics, inherent 'trait' mindfulness, change in mood, and perceived acceptability were compared between the two groups.

Results: The 17 participants were demographically similar, as were their self-reported mood scores until after the meditation, where they diverged significantly (p < .01, t-test), with the meditation group feeling more relaxed and calm. Meditation as an intervention was considered largely acceptable.

Conclusions: Mindfulness meditation is established in improving stress resilience, relevant to surgeon well-being, performance, and patient care. This feasibility study suggests benefit and acceptability, and potential for further research in designing a targeted programme for surgeons, to reduce stress sensitivity, and improve performance, joy, and well-being within surgical training.Level of evidence: Level III, Therapeutic study.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00238-022-01962-1.

Keywords: COVID-19; Hand surgery; Meditation; Mindfulness; Training.

Fig. 1

The time points in the study, when electronic surveys were sent to groups 1 and 2

Fig. 2

A line graph of the average mood scores of the control and intervention groups at the four survey points (Scale 1–5, Box 2)

Fig. 3

Acceptability scores for the use of meditation in surgical training (before (Survey 1) and after (Survey 4) the intervention). Grey highlighting represents the control, and green the intervention group