PhD defence: Helle Joon Christiansen
Towards Pain-Free Surgeons: PhD Project Tests Strategies to Prevent and Manage Pain
Info about event
Time
Location
Room U133, University of Southern Denmark
On Monday 17 August 2026 at 13:00, Helle Joon Christiansen defends her PhD dissertation entitled “Pain-Free Surgeons - Development, Launch, and Evaluation of Strategies to Prevent Musculoskeletal Pain Among Abdominal and Pelvic Surgeons”.
Surgeons spend their working lives caring for others, but many struggle with pain themselves. Studies show that six to seven out of ten surgeons experience musculoskeletal pain in the neck, shoulders, or back, often linked to physically demanding operations. A new PhD project has developed and tested strategies to prevent and manage this pain among abdominal and pelvic surgeons.
The project began with a review of existing research, showing that ergonomic training, short breaks during surgery, and improved working postures were associated with less pain and fatigue among surgeons. Building on this, the researchers developed a set of simple recommendations, Good Ergonomics, focusing on correct working postures and microbreaks. These were introduced at nine Danish surgical departments. Most surgeons practised the ergonomic postures, but microbreaks proved harder to maintain, as they depend on cooperation across the whole team. In a subsequent randomised controlled trial, 83 surgeons were divided into two groups. All surgeons were encouraged to continue following the Good Ergonomic recommendations, and half of the surgeons also tried an app-based exercise programme, Intelligent Motion, to see whether it would further reduce their pain. Pain levels dropped in both groups, but the app added no extra benefit, likely because too few surgeons found time to train. The findings suggest that reducing pain among surgeons takes more than individual effort - it requires organisational support and should become a standard part of surgical training.
The summary is written by the PhD student.
The defence is public and takes place in Room U133, University of Southern Denmark. Please see the press release for more information.
Contact
PhD student Helle Joon Christiansen
Mail: hjchristiansen@clin.au.dk
Phone: +45 50176163