Jack Barney award: the effect of fatigue on cognitive and psychomotor skills of trauma residents and attending surgeons.

Background: Fatigue and sleep deprivation and their effects on surgical proficiency have been actively researched areas. Past studies that have focused solely on residents have provided an important insight into how fatigue affects residents' ability to perform. This study aims to quantify the effect of fatigue on attending surgeons.

Effect of fatigue on psychomotor and cognitive skills.

Background: Previous studies have explored the effect of fatigue on general psychomotor proficiency. However, studies specifically addressing the effect of fatigue on surgical residents' cognitive skills during simulated surgical exercises are lacking.

Methods: Thirty-seven surgical residents in both the precall and the postcall condition were tested for psychomotor and cognitive skill evaluation on a virtual-reality simulator with haptic feedback and hand-motion recording.