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Impact of Team Familiarity in the Operating Room on Surgical Complications

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Abstract

Background

The quality of surgical performance depends on the technical skills of the surgical team as well as on non-technical skills, including teamwork. The present study evaluated the impact of familiarity among members of the surgical team on morbidity in patients undergoing elective open abdominal surgery.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was performed to compare the surgical outcomes of patients who underwent major abdominal operations between the first month (period I) and the last month (period II) of a 6-month period of continuous teamwork (stable dyads of one senior and one junior surgeon formed every 6 months). Of 117 patients, 59 and 58 patients underwent operations during period I and period II, respectively, between January 2010 and June 2012. Team performance was assessed via questionnaire by specialized work psychologists; in addition, intraoperative sound levels were measured.

Results

The incidence of overall complications was significantly higher in period I than in period II (54.2 vs. 34.5 %; P = 0.041). Postoperative complications grade <3 were significantly more frequently diagnosed in patients who had operations during period I (39.0 vs. 15.5 %; P = 0.007), whereas no between-group differences in grade ≥3 complications were found (15.3 vs. 19.0 %; P = 0.807). Concentration scores from senior surgeons were significantly higher in period II than in period I (P = 0.033). Sound levels during the middle third part of the operations were significantly higher in period I (median above the baseline 8.85 dB [range 4.5–11.3 dB] vs. 7.17 dB [5.24–9.43 dB]; P < 0.001).

Conclusions

Team familiarity improves team performance and reduces morbidity in patients undergoing abdominal surgery.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (138273).

Conflict of interest

Drs. Anita Kurmann, Sandra Keller, Franziska Tschan-Semmer, Julia Seelandt, Norbert K. Semmer, Daniel Candinas, and Guido Beldi have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine, Inselspital University Hospital Bern and University Bern, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

    A. Kurmann, D. Candinas & G. Beldi

  2. Institute of Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    S. Keller, F. Tschan-Semmer & J. Seelandt

  3. Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    N. K. Semmer

Authors
  1. A. Kurmann
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  2. S. Keller
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  3. F. Tschan-Semmer
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  4. J. Seelandt
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  5. N. K. Semmer
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  6. D. Candinas
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  7. G. Beldi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Kurmann.

Electronic supplementary material

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268_2014_2680_MOESM1_ESM.tiff

Mean sound levels above baseline during the first third of the operations showed no significant difference between period I and period II (two-way ANOVA)

268_2014_2680_MOESM2_ESM.tiff

Mean sound levels above baseline during the last third of the operations showed no significant difference between period I and period II (two-way ANOVA)

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Kurmann, A., Keller, S., Tschan-Semmer, F. et al. Impact of Team Familiarity in the Operating Room on Surgical Complications. World J Surg 38, 3047–3052 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-014-2680-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-014-2680-2

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