But because many healthcare workers must manually position and tilt patients, these healthcare workers often develop complaints in their lower back or shoulders. This study was conducted by UZ Gent and Liantis, Belgian most famous external service for health and safety at work. It shows that the physical tension is much lower when care workers use compressed air to proning patients than in a traditional way.
By Stephan Tomlow, Head Ergonomics at Liantis (external service provider for health and safety at work)
Background
In the operating room, patients are often manually tilted and positioned by healthcare professionals. Such, for instance in the case of prone surgery, where a patient is placed from supine to prone on support. And this is the procedure known as “proning.” It's extremely bad for your back.
The results of this heavy physical burden are far-reaching. It can lead to employees not working up-to-speed, disappear on sick leave or even run off. In cooperation with Ghent University Hospital, Liantis discovered whether compressed air and inflatable cushions could lighten the burden for healthcare workers.
Comparing three methods of proning
We compared three types of proning in our study. Six subjects must shift patient from supine to prone position three ways.
The first method involved compressed air and inflatables. The subject had to roll the patient from bed onto an inflatable board (IBO) and then off of it onto the operating table. An inflatable cushion (IPS) was already placed at the level of the patient’s thorax and pelvis before this. After proning, the cushion was inflated to complete positioning.
The others were manual operations. The second method called on the subject to carry the patient from bed to operating table by rolling board. The patient was tilted on the table with gliding sheets. Later, he was hoisted and placed on foam supports. Finally, he often had no choice but to have the patient roll from supine position in bed on the operating table directly onto supports or a frame.
We determined which method was the least physically demanding by measuring with a dynamometer, in each of the three methods, both muscle tone of subject's shoulder muscles and low back muscles.
Inflatable cushions reduce physical strain
By using the compressed air method, there was a large reduction in muscle load for those being tested. Besides reducing shoulder strain, this method was also much easier on the back muscles.
In short: Since this prevents manual handling, workers in the care sector will be less likely to suffer from lower back pain.
Stephan Tomlow, Head Ergonomics at Liantis (external service provider for health and safety work)
Importance of this research
Why should anyone care about this kind of research? Filip Buckens, ergonomist at Ghent University Hospital, explains that this research is valuable for several reasons:
The results make one thing clear: there must be a ban on some of the more abusive manual techniques in the operating room. They are too hard on healthcare workers and, after all, there is no need to put them through that physical stress-there are effective substitutes available for many such procedures.
When you want to bring a theory that comes from the heart into reality, it needs black-andwhite results. To get surgeons to use this new technique in their operating rooms, you've got to give them some good results. But that is indeed the case with this study. This study really shows the added value of using air cushions, he says.
Filip Buckens, ergonomist at Ghent University Hospital