The relations of cooperation and conflict between health professionals in an operating room follow models of hierarchy and gender two elements that also model the social behaviors of nonhuman primates, such as that chimpanzees and bonobos . According to the observations of the team of the primatologist Frans de Waal published in the scientific journal PNAS the most common protagonist of the conflict was the assistant surgeon with the nurse in circulation, resident physician follow-up

In addition, if the human team is composed of A majority of men the probability that there are disputes is duplicated. Inspired by the study of animal behavior, scientists recorded 59% of cooperative sequences and 2.8% of conflict while the remaining behaviors were not classified in any of the categories above.

"Mostly we observe many social interactions .I would describe the operating room as a rather noisy place," Sinc the first author of the # 39; study, Laura K. Jones who made all the observations and is a researcher at the University by Emory

In total, the researchers ranked more than six thousand spontaneous and non-technical interactions of professionals in a catalog of different behaviors, from short conversations to confrontations and flirting . The analysis was made from 200 surgical procedures -68% open heart and 32% laparoscopic- from three hospitals in the same region of the United States between 2014 and 2016.

"Our goal was a comparison with primates we wanted to develop a methodology of direct observation more reliable than the questionnaires used by sociologists ", specifies Sinc by email Frans de Waal, professor of psychology at Emory University (United States).

Cooperation and Conflict

Cooperation was more common among women and increased even more when the sex of the deputy surgeon differed from that of the majority of the team members, according to the results. Team members and construction behaviors were more common between the surgeon and the resident. By department, gynecology was the most collaborative and one that had fewer conflicts. On the contrary, orthopedics was the least cooperative

] "The cooperation in the operating room is essential and the relationship is generally very cordial", emphasizes his 40 years of experience Joan Francesc Julián Chief of general and digestive surgery at the hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, who compares the equipment of an operating room with the crew of an aircraft, where there are few professionals, in constant interaction and with very specific functions.

Julian feels that there are no differences between the sexes. The operating room: "You do not have to mind if you are helped by a surgeon or a surgeon because you are very focused on the intervention". He considers that the personal conflicts are "punctual and exceptional" and that they always remain out of the operating room, where reigns a "great respect" in the world and silence for promote the concentration of all members of the team.

We are primates

However, the results of the new study conducted in the US operating theaters describe another reality. The encounters were twice as frequent among the surgeons who worked with an essentially male team, in accordance with the evolutionist approaches : the male competition is more intense.

competition and rivalry are more common among individuals of the same sex for the same resources, often to mate, "says Waal. While males compete with each other for females, they fight for food and status. In the case of women, there are also arguments to mate. "In this sense, our species and the other primates behave the same way," compares de Waal: a male defines his position in front of others and a woman against others. On the other hand, between the sexes, there is much less competition and almost no rivalry.