Effect of exercise on microsurgical hand tremor

This study investigated the effects of upper‐body and aerobic/lower‐body‐only (nonupper‐body) exercise on microsurgical hand tremor. Subjects were given a task of holding a microsurgical needle tip over a small target, with video‐microscopic documentation immediately before and 0, 2, 4, 8, and 24 h after either upper‐body or nonupper‐body (aerobic) exercise. Tremor was quantified by the amount of time the needle was maintained within a 100 × 100‐μm target zone and the number of times the needle extruded from the zone. Both upper‐body and aerobic‐only exercise groups had significant increases in tremor immediately after exercise (P < 0.02), with a return to baseline tremor 2 h after exercise in the aerobic group and only a slightly prolonged return to baseline (by 4 h) in the majority of upper‐body exercise subjects. These findings demonstrate that microsurgical hand tremor increases following exercise, but returns to baseline within 4 h in the majority of individuals, particularly after aerobic‐only workouts. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. MICROSURGERY 23:323–327 2003