to send them home soon
after surgery. The anteri-
or approach to the hip
joint spares the muscle
at the pelvis and femur,
shortens recoveries and
prepares patients for
same-day discharge. This
single-incision technique,
which requires one leg to
stay in a normal position
while other is hyperex-
tended to where the foot is on or just above the floor, has traditionally
required a specialty table that's both large and relatively expensive, as
much as $150,000 or more.
Enter innovative leg positioners that attach to any standard operating
room table to provide surgeons with the access they need to perform
anterior hip replacements. The attachments represent a significant
recent breakthrough in advanced patient positioning, according to
John Masonis, MD, a hip and knee surgeon at OrthoCarolina in
Charlotte, N.C.
Spine procedures, which are also beginning to gain traction in the
outpatient setting, rely on stable access to the vertebrae or posterior
pelvic region. Surgeons must minimize muscle damage and potential
pain, and manage bleeding, says John C. Liu, MD, co-director of the
Spine Surgery Center at Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, Calif.
"During lumbar spine surgery, it's about maximizing exposure and
spine alignment and decreasing abdominal compression," says Dr. Liu.
"That's how you keep intraoperative blood loss to a minimum."
Radiolucent tables are critical both clinically and in terms of effi-
5 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 1 7
• STAYING PUT A special underbody pad absorbs perspiration, which helps keep
patients in the Trendelenburg position from sliding.
