Surgery: splint – brace – or bandage – Orthopedic bandage – Skeletal traction applicator
Patent
1998-04-17
1999-12-14
Apley, Richard J.
Surgery: splint, brace, or bandage
Orthopedic bandage
Skeletal traction applicator
5630, 5612, A61F 500
Patent
active
060010762
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
When carrying out surgical operations on a patient, the patient is conventionally supported on an operating table or bed throughout the course of the operation. A standard operating table comprises at least two panels forming the table top, these panels being supported by a central pillar fixed to the floor. The panels are hinged to each other, allowing the table to break to form an inverted `V`-shaped orientation. The panels are also pivotable with respect to the central pillar, allowing the table to be inclined, and may be raised or lowered as required by a surgeon operating on the patient. It is common for operating tables to include two end panels for support of the patient's head and feet. These end panels are pivotal with respect to the adjacent panels, and allow greater control of the patient's posture and positioning during surgery. The correct posture and positioning of the patient assists in the ease of access by the surgeon. Further, incorrect posture of the patient during operations, especially operations lasting many hours, may result in unnecessary trauma to the patient including bruising of soft tissue which increases their recovery time.
For some operations, the mere breaking of the table by pivoting the panels forming the table is unable to achieve the required posture and positioning for an operation. Examples of this include operations performed on the spine of a patient, in which the desired posture is with the lumbar region of the spine straight, or often positively curved, that is convex. This separates the vertebrae of the spine, improving access by the surgeon, compared to the spacing when this region of the spine adopts the normal concave shape. Conventional operating tables cannot be positioned to achieve this required posture. Other examples of operations in which the positioning of the patient is of especial importance and which cannot be achieved by a conventional operating table alone includes surgery where access is required from the rear side of the patient, for example to the back of the legs.
PRIOR ART
The most common solution to achieve the posture required by the surgeon is to provide a raised platform on the operating table, which raises particular parts of the patient's body. Whilst these devices achieve an improved posture of the patient, it is difficult to get an unconscious patient onto the operating table and into the correct position where a raised support is provided on the table. Generally, a patient is brought to the operating theatre, anaesthetized, lying on their back on a trolley, and must be slid or rolled onto the operating table. Where a raised platform is provided on the operating table, the patient must be lifted off the trolley, and lifted over the platform. For spinal surgery, the patient must also be rotated in the air. This procedure requires a large number of theatre staff, all of whom must bear the weight of the patient. Many injuries are caused to the theatre staff in lifting and handling the patient. This is due not merely to the lifting of the patient, but also to the incorrect posture that the theatre staff must adopt during operating table and trolley and lift the patient with outstretched arms.
One example of a raised platform used in spinal operations is the Wilson frame. The Wilson frame comprises two arched stands, the end of each stand including a foot which allows the stands to be rested on opposite sides of the top of the operating table. The arched stands are bridged by support platforms which support a pad on which the patient is positioned. By pulling the ends of each stand towards each other, the arch increases in height. The ends may be pulled together by use of a screw between the two ends. This device does not give the optimum posture desired by surgeons. Furthermore, even in the lowest position, the top of the stand is 25 to 30 cm above the top of the operating table, and therefore, as indicated above, requires difficult patient lifting and handling. Despite these disadvantages of the Wilson frame, it has be
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Martin Daniel
Wilson Brian Thomas
Apley Richard J.
Nuffield Nursing Homes Trust
University of Northumbria at Newcastle
Yu Justine R.
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