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Improve Spinal Block Safety as well as Epidural and Lumbar Puncture safety with the Epidural Positioning Device

Advancements in Spinal Block Safety

by sphmedicaladmin February 15, 2023February 16, 2023

The Epidural Positioning Device Improving Spinal Block Safety

There have been many advancements in Safe Patient Handling over the recent years. One very simple advancement has been the SPH Medical Epidural Positioning Device. This simple tool offers improved patient comfort and safety while positioning patients in the ideal flexed spine position. Most importantly it protects the caregivers, nurses, and anesthesia techs that use it and prevents staff injuries. When patients have surgery like a hip or knee replacement or go into labor before delivering a baby, they are commonly given pain relief via an epidural injection or spinal block. Any hospital unit can utilize an epidural positioning device (EPD) to improve a patient’s stability and comfort while they are receiving a spinal block. This device, also known as an Epidural Chair, decreases the risk of musculoskeletal injury to clinical staff as they position a patient to provide an epidural procedure as well as improves spinal block safety. Using this specialized equipment makes it easier for nurses, anesthesiologists, and other health care professionals to engage in safe patient handling practices at all times.

Many surgeons who perform complete knee or hip replacements prefer to recommend spinal blocks rather than general anesthesia for their patients. This treatment allows patients to start moving right away as they recover from surgery. The epidural positioning device can safely position patients in a seated position during many different types of procedures. Nursing staff and other qualified medical professionals in a Surgery Department or Labor and Delivery Unit can make adjustments to the device so that it can accommodate a variety of body types.

Safely Perform an Epidural or Spinal Blocks with the EPD

When a patient is seated at bedside or on a stretcher supported by an Epidural Chair, medical professionals can safely perform a spinal block or epidural procedure without difficulty. Funny enough, it’s not actually a chair as it has no seat! The patient actually sits on the bed or gurney and The EPD is brought over to them to provide support. As a patient leans forward against the EPD, the device promotes an ideal degree of thoracic, lumbar, and cervical spinal flexion that makes it easy for an anesthesiologist to insert a needle between their vertebrae. The specialty chair supports the patient so that staff members will never need to use their own weight to stabilize, hold, fix, or balance their body. Nurses and other clinical professionals who bear the weight of their patients can suffer sustained physical stress that can damage their own joints after a period of time. An unstable, large, or medicated patient can easily harm a staff member via improper physical contact. Using this specialized chair also decreases the chance that a patient or staff member will be injured from a slip or fall. Injuries can also be caused when sliding or rolling furniture or equipment strikes or collides with a patient or staff member.

An Epidural Chair can greatly benefit a hospital’s orthopedic surgery department or labor and delivery unit. This device is easy to add to any inventory of essential equipment. Keeping and using an epidural positioning device may increase spinal block safety and decrease a hospital’s risk of liability. According to researchers at Stanford University, the number of annual epidural procedures undertaken in the United States is increasing. The journal Anesthesiology published a report in 2018 stating that from 2009 to 2015, a large percentage of the 17 million women who delivered babies received a spinal analgesic. 68% of women who were at a normal weight and 76% of women who were overweight received this epidural treatment during labor. In 2008, 10% fewer pregnant women received the same epidural procedure. As spinal blocks become more frequent, patients and staff face greater chances of experiencing accidental injury, doing harm to equipment, wasting time, and enduring unfortunate or unsatisfying situations. Adding an EPD to a hospital’s depository of specialty equipment promotes safety and well-being for staff and patients and enhances the overall healthcare experience.

Sources:

Anesthesiology September 2018, Vol. 129, 448–458.

Tracie White. “Epidurals increase in popularity, Stanford study finds.” Scope 10K, Stanford Medicine, 26 Jun. 2018. Accessed 3 May 2022.

Alexander J. Butwick, Cynthia A. Wong, and Nan Guo. “Maternal Body Mass Index and Use of Labor Neuraxial Analgesia: A Population-based Retrospective Cohort Study.”Anesthesiology, Vol. 129, Sept. 2018, ASA Publications. Accessed 3 May 2022.

SPH Medical's EPD improves patient comfort and safety during spinal blocks and epidurals.

Patient Handling

Improving Spinal Block Safety in Hospitals

by sphmedicaladmin January 30, 2023January 31, 2023

Hospital staff and patient safety should be a top priority for all hospitals, say most healthcare professionals. Many leading hospitals that have made staff safety a top priority have been found to have at least one epidural positioning device (EPD) in both their surgery department and another in their labor and delivery unit. These hospitals and health systems are also the ones that have healthcare workers with fewer missed work days due to musculoskeletal disorders. Musculoskeletal disorders are some of the most costly and debilitating injuries to nurses and nurse assistants. They often lead to chronic pain and lost work days. Back injuries are brought on by patient-handling mishaps where proper use of equipment was not employed. Facilities that use assistive devices to improve spinal block safety have documented a reduction of injury rates and severity as well as a reduction direct and indirect medical expenses. Hospitals that do not have such devices have much higher rates of injury and more lost work days. And this is backed by two very credible studies, the first of which is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That study revealed overexertion is a factor in most musculoskeletal disorder cases among medical teams.

The study also notes that the overexertion that befalls most medical teams is usually a byproduct of lifting, holding, and otherwise positioning patients to receive a spinal block or epidural injection. In a separate Bureau of Labor Statistics study, researchers revealed overexertion-related musculoskeletal disorders were to blame for more than 8,730 days-away-from-work cases filed for registered nurses in 2016. That said, there is some good news; the number of musculoskeletal disorders and missed work days among hospital medical teams are nowhere near as high these days. And this is thanks to more hospitals embracing and adding the epidural chair to the rest of the advanced equipment already in their surgery departments and labor and delivery units.

How an EPD Helps Administer Epidural Pain Relief While also Improving Spinal Block Safety

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), musculoskeletal disorders can affect bones, joints, muscles, and connective tissues in varying parts of the body. The organization further notes that they can cause extreme pain, mobility problems, and, in some cases, may even be disabling. They are also some of the costliest to treat as far as work-related injuries are concerned. Most musculoskeletal disorder cases that result in hospital medical teams having to miss work involve the following:

The upper and lower back
Neck and shoulders
Arms, hands, legs, and feet

Whether it be for a pregnant woman due to give birth in a hospital’s labor and delivery unit or someone scheduled to undergo a surgical procedure in a hospital’s surgery department, an epidural chair to administer epidural pain relief can make life easier for everyone involved. For those who have never seen them, an epidural positioning device or epidural chair is a medical apparatus fitted with head, chest, and arm supports that help insure that a patient remains in a stable and comfortable position while they maintain the ideal flexed spine position for the injection.

These two things keep medical teams from overly exerting themselves when preparing patients to receive a spinal block or epidural. They also reduce the chances of a patient falling after receiving these powerful pain blockers which means that hospital staff also avoid having to catch a falling patient. This is a well known cause of injury to nurses. Additionally, the EPD can reduce the risk of injection mishaps, which can sometimes happen when medical teams have to manually prop up a patient before injecting them with one of these powerful pain-blocking medications. To learn more about EPDs and why they are a must for modern-day hospitals, consider speaking with an SPH Medical associate today.

SPH Medical EPD reduces risk of injury while improving patient comfor

Patient Handling

Spinal Block Safety Trends

by sphmedicaladmin November 3, 2022November 16, 2022

Spinal Block Safety and The Use of the EPD for Patient Positioning

When patients need to undergo a spinal block for surgery or an epidural in the labor and delivery unit, many hospitals rely on pillows and the strength of staff members. While this may seem like a normal process for your facility, it doesn’t have to be. EPDs, known formally as epidural positioning devices, can be used for effective spinal block safety practices. The EPD can help to ideally position the patient and hold them during the procedure will little assistance from hospital staff members.

Understanding What EPDs Can Do

Whenever a patient needs to undergo an epidural or spinal block, an EPD can do a number of things. First, it creates a solid surface where the patient can be positioned in a safe manner. An epidural positioning device is designed to have the patient in a seated position, with their head resting forward. This promotes optimal spinal flexion in all segments of the spine so the anesthesiologist can effortlessly administer the injection.

Approved an essential component for Safe Patient Handling programs, these EPDs solve many patient care problems. The patient will be more fully supported by the epidural chair than by pillows and hospital staff members alone. Additionally, there will be no need for staff members to have to quickly respond to patients that may move or fall during the procedure. All of the patient’s support comes directly from the epidural chair.

Why are EPDs Great For Medical Staff Members?

Without an EPD, staff members have to physically help the patient get in an optimal position for their spinal anesthesia or epidural pain relief. This can be quite challenging when patients aren’t highly mobile, they may be on medication, or their shear weight may pose a risk to staff members. Once the patient is in an optimal position, staff members often have to manually support their weight or hold them in position applying counter-pressure.

Since patients are well-known to move under pain, nurses need to safely hold the patient in that position throughout the duration of the procedure. This can be quite challenging when the patient is constantly moving or may move suddenly. Additionally, if the patient starts to fall, nurses need to be able to quickly support all of the patient’s weight. Catching a falling patient is a well-known cause of injury to nurses.

This puts a lot of weight and pressure on nurses and anesthesia techs. On an average day, many will do this procedure multiple times over, which can cause further strain on their bodies. There’s a reason that nursing is the second highest industry to have chronic workplace injuries. EPDs can help to solve these issues by eliminating much of the physical component of the procedure for nurses and anesthesia techs. This physical handling of patients is called manual patient handling. Our goal is to always use Safe Patient Handling techniques and the appropriate equipment to reduce risk of injury. The EPD supports these goals.

Spinal Block Trends

In recent years, there has been a large surge in the number of spinal blocks being performed in the surgery department. Many medical procedures that were traditionally performed under general anesthesia are now being done under spinal blocks. For example, many surgeons are now using spinal anesthesia for hip and knee replacement and repair surgeries instead of general anesthesia.

In fact, between 2007 and 2017, there was a 50% increase in the number of patients who received a spinal anesthesia block for hip-fracture surgery. Many doctors prefer how quickly patients can start moving again after a spinal anesthesia block as compared to general anesthesia options. It’s now more important than ever before for patients and staff members alike to have an epidural positioning device that can make spinal anesthesia blocks and epidural pain relief much smoother and less risky for all. These should be found in every surgery department and labor and delivery unit.

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