SURGICAL/CRITICAL CARE sponsored by Secured for surgery
During surgery, even healthy patients are at risk for pressure injuries and falls. Dan Allen, founder of D.A. Surgical, has made it his business to track emerging trends in surgery, and create products for those surgeries. Most devices the medical products entrepreneur creates are meant to keep anesthetized patients safely posi- tioned on the surgical table, even when placed at a steep angle. Perhaps best known as creator of the surgical stirrup that bears his name and for a boot-style stirrup now ubiquitous in operating rooms, anatomy and gravity, he says, are two intractable realities that drive most of his work.
Early in his 40-plus years of observing surgery, Allen says he saw just how vul- nerable surgery patients are when they are under sedation.
If not well-secured, he says, “They could
slide off the (surgery) table and suffer hor- rible injuries.”
Sliding, Allen says, is the primary prob- lem his inventions are designed to prevent. “Sliding should be a ‘never’ event,” Allen said. Allen’s chief interest these days is in
positioning products related to robotic- assisted laparascopy procedures.
TrenGuard 450 positioner from D.A. Surgical
“The unique technology used by the surgical robot creates unintended conse- quences in regard to patient positioning,” according to D.A. Surgical. The flagship product, called TrenGuard,
restrains a patient during surgeries per- formed in Trendelenburg positions, “as extreme as 40-degrees,” according to the company description.
Another of the products in the series protects a patient’s face from swinging robotic arms.
In addition to potentially being struck in the face, there is risk of a “meat hook” restraint.
“When patients slide even ‘just a little bit,’ while in Trendelenburg position, it is the (fixed) trocars that end up restraining the patient on the table,” Allen says. “Fixed robotic trocars,” his website warns, “create a serious potential for patient risk as it can cause incisional tear, post-operative hernia formation, and increased post-operative pain sec- ondary to over-stretching of the anterior abdominal wall.” Along with these restraints Allen has developed numerous disposable foam pillows to keep every part of the patient’s body positioned safely for surgery. Some call Allen’s products “innova- tive,” or “inventive,” but Allen takes more of a tinkerers view.“ I make lots of little problem solvers,” he says. HPN
References:
1.
https://www.factmr.com/report/52/patient-positioning- market
2.
https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/profes- sionals/quality-patient-safety/pfp/hacreport-2019.pdf
3.
https://www.centerfortransforminghealthcare.org/improve- ment-topics/hospital-acquired-pressure-ulcers-prevention/ 4.
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
28 January 2022 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
hpnonline.com
2112HPN_RGFEvnironmental.indd 1 11/16/21 10:08 AM
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