Abstract
Objective
This study evaluates the conditions for microvascular procedures found by hand surgeons in Brazilian clinical practices.
Methodology
A prospective, observational, and analytical primary clinical research conducted during the 37th Brazilian Congress of Hand Surgery, from March 30th to April 1st, 2017, in Belo Horizonte, in which physicians answered 12 closed, objective, multiple-choice questions regarding their geographic region, type of institution (public or private), microsurgical training, time of experience, technical conditions, the availability of a standby team for emergencies and compensation.
Results
The study analyzed 143 hand surgeons; among them, 65.7% participants were based at the Southeast region, 13.3% in the Northeast region, 11.9% in the South region, 6.3% in the Central-West region and 2.8% in the North region. Regarding the time of experience, 43.4% of the hand surgeons had less than 5 years, 16.8% had 5 to 10 years, 23.8% 10 to 20 years, and 23% hadmore than 20 years of practice in microvascular surgery. Seven percent of the surgeons had no training in microvascular surgery; for 63.6%, training occurred during medical residency, whereas 30.8% were trained in another institution, and 7.7% in another country. Among these surgeons, 76.9% worked at both private and public hospitals, 14.7% at private hospitals and 5.6% at public hospitals. Regarding compensation, 1.8% of the surgeons considered it adequate, and 98.2%, inadequate in public hospitals, whereas 5.0% considered it adequate, and 95.0%, inadequate in private hospitals.
Conclusion
This research shows that most surgeons were trained in microsurgery, had never performed reattachments, and considered that compensation is inadequate; moreover, standby teams were not available. There are few, unevenly distributed hand surgeons with microsurgical ability in emergency settings, and their compensation is low.
Keywords:
hands/surgery; replantation; microsurgical procedures; socioeconomic factors
