Effect of sleep deprivation on surgeons’ dexterity on laparoscopy simulator
Sleep deprivation impairs cognitive performance;1 wakefulness for 24 h is equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0·10%,2 which is above the legal driving limit in the UK. Although surgeons commonly operate after a disturbed night’s sleep, the effect of lack of sleep on surgical dexterity has been difficult to quantify because objective measurements of psychomotor skills are not easy to validate. The psychomotor skills necessary for laparoscopic surgery are especially demanding and several virtual-reality simulators are now available to teach surgeons laparoscopic surgery techniques. We aimed to quantify the effect of sleep deprivation on surgeons’ laparoscopic skills with a virtual reality laparoscopic surgery simulator.
Taffinder, N., McManus, I., Gul, Y., Russell, R., & Darzi, A. (1998). Effect of sleep deprivation on surgeons’ dexterity on laparoscopy simulator. The Lancet, 352(9135), 1191. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(98)00034-8