Is back pain and injury the only overuse injury in the cath lab?
This year at our hospital, another of our experienced staff had to make the choice between the field she loved, and the risk of permanent, perhaps crippling injury. It is time to revisit the physical demands of our job in the cath lab, and look to the ergonomic solutions we can develop. The story is repeated in health care occupations across the spectrum.1 Repetitive work-related musculo-skeletal injuries are a major source of our medical care costs in the United States. These injuries are, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the nation’s most common and costly occupational health problem, affecting hundreds of thousands of American workers, and costing more than $20 billion a year in workers’ compensation.2 After feeling the tingling, then pain, in her arm develop and increase over weeks, our staff member sought help. Her physician diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome, and sent her for a round of physical therapy. Her next round of treatment was to have a surgeon evaluate the injur
