Surgeons often reported anxiety and guilt after adverse care events
A review describes surgeons' symptoms and coping strategies; its abstract reports no comparisons showing whether those strategies improve recovery.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
After adverse care events, surgeons commonly reported anxiety, guilt, sadness and sleep disturbance. Talking with colleagues was the most frequently reported coping method, followed by talking with family or friends. These findings describe symptoms and responses in the included studies; the abstract does not establish whether commonly used coping strategies improve recovery.
The abstract does not specify when symptoms were assessed or provide enough detail to judge how estimates apply across surgical specialties, settings or types of adverse event.
What researchers found
Surgeons reporting anxiety symptoms
Pooled prevalence after adverse care events; no comparison group or symptom-assessment interval was reported in the abstract.
What the review examined
The review examined second victim syndrome: distress and physical symptoms affecting clinicians after an adverse care event. It combined qualitative and quantitative research to describe surgeons' experiences, possible influences on distress and commonly used coping methods.
Support use versus effectiveness
Surgeon experience, sex and event severity were identified as possible predictors of harm, rather than proven causes. The authors propose peer support and institutional changes, but the abstract does not report comparative evidence of their effectiveness.
The original publication
Second victim syndrome in surgeons: systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of adverse events on surgeons.
Bryan J, Ketley A, Cavanagh K et al.
Br J Surg · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41499327
- Record checked
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