Gastrointestinal endoscopy and work-related injuries: an international survey – letter to editor

We thank the authors for their interest in our research and for suggesting that ganglion cysts should be included in our next study. As mentioned by the authors, no previous publications have mentioned ganglion cysts as work-related injuries in gastrointestinal endoscopy. Hand numbness, DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome are the most frequent injuries located in the wrist/hand and seen in endoscopists [1] [2]. In addition, while expanding our research to other fields of endoscopy as bronchoscopy and urology, we could not find any studies reporting the above-mentioned injury.

Our study was based on state-of-the-art research in which ganglion cysts were not included or mentioned. However, responders had the opportunity to specify any additional injury that differed from the provided list. Looking retrospectively at our raw data, we could not identify any “ganglion cysts” reported by the respondents when checking “Others” in the answer field for the question related to the kind of musculoskeletal injury. In regard to use of invasive treatment for ganglion cysts, we cannot make any statements about whether gastrointestinal endoscopists would opt for it or not. However, we can report the data from our study, which showed that some participants did resort to surgery to treat other medical conditions that resulted from work-related injuries.

As reported by Gregush et al [3], the etiology of ganglion cyst is unknown, although it is believed to arise from repetitive trauma that causes degeneration of the connective tissues. Although most ganglion cysts are asymptomatic, they can cause pain, tenderness, and weakness. Therefore, ganglion cyst cannot be excluded as one of the causes of pain of the wrist and hand joints reported in ours and previous studies.

Publication note

Letters to the editor do not necessarily represent the opinion of the editor or publisher. The editor and publisher reserve the right to not publish letters to the editor, or to publish them abbreviated or in extracts.

Conflict of Interest

The authors work for Ambu Innovation GmbH (VB) and Ambu A/S (SA), respectively.

• References

• 1 Harvin G. Review of musculoskeletal injuries and prevention in the endoscopy practitioner. J Clin Gastroenterol 2014; 48: 590-594 DOI: 10.1097/MCG.0000000000000134. (PMID: 24798940)
• 2 Ridtitid W, Coté GA, Leung W. et al. Prevalence and risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries related to endoscopy. Gastrointest Endosc 2015; 81: 294-302 DOI: 10.1016/j.gie.2014.06.036. (PMID: 25115360)
• 3 Gregush RE, Habusta SF. Ganglion cyst. StatPearls Publishing, Treasure Island (FL). 2023 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470168/

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 22. November 2023

Angenommen: 02. Januar 2024

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
07. März 2024