Surgeons are retiring early because of back problems caused by modern surgical techniques, experts have warned.

Keyhole surgery, where an operation is carried out through a small hole in the patient’s body, has become increasingly common because it helps patients recover more quickly and has less pain, complications and scarring than conventional operations.

But in order to carry out the procedures through a tiny opening, surgeons often have to contort themselves into awkward positions for hours at a time.

Now a new report says one in five surgeons say they will have to retire early because they have developed back injuries from carrying out modern surgical techniques.

This could mean patients face even longer waits for operations, thanks to the loss of 4,500 senior doctors, the research suggests.

Three quarters of surgeons who regularly carry out the procedures have experienced back pain while doing their job and one in six have had to seek medical help for musculoskeletal injuries caused by their work, a survey of doctors by robo-surgery firm CMR Surgical found.

The survey questioned 462 surgeons who regularly performed keyhole surgery procedures in the United States and Europe, including more than 150 from the UK.

It found surgeons were most likely to suffer back, neck and shoulder injuries.