Essential theatre equipment
Going into theatre for elective or emergency surgeries can be worrying for patients and hospital staff alike, as tiny changes in body temperature, a key part of homeostasis, can have a huge effect on outcomes and recovery.
To limit this, a range of operating theatre equipment has been designed – helping to provide certainty and expertise when it is needed most.
So, what theatre equipment do theatres need to keep patients safe and healthy when at their most vulnerable?
Operating room equipment
For theatres of the medical kind, there is a range of operating theatre essentials that are used to ensure the continued health of the infirm and improve care, recovery, and healing.
This includes crucial operating room products, such as patient warming blankets and mattresses.
These examples of theatre equipment, ensure bodily temperatures don’t drop below 36°C due to the risks of anaesthetic – which helps to reduce the chances of perioperative hypothermia developing.
Patient warming blankets
Using warmed blankets keeps those emerging from operating rooms and in critical care environments within the bounds of normothermia – a normal body temperature.
Heating the body with warmed linens from a blanket warming cabinet brings many benefits, including:
Reducing the risk of postoperative complications – Without patient warming measures, perioperative hypothermia can affect cardiac muscles and how quickly patients come out of anaesthetic – leading to complications such as vasoconstriction, tissue hypoxia, and Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) within a wound.
Provides comfort – Giving warm blankets to a sick person also provides comfort, helping them feel cared for when they are at their most vulnerable.
Offers customisable levels of warmth – Warmed blankets can be layered or quickly removed as needed to keep body temperature within normal bounds.
Fast-acting warmth – Quality warm blankets instantly start to increase body and core temperatures, helping to restore normothermia.
Patient warming mattresses
Unlike warmed blankets which need to be heated in a blanket warming cabinet, patient warming mattresses are standalone surgical equipment solutions that are plug-and-play.
Patient warming mattresses are considered basic pieces of operating room equipment. They allow patients to recline in increased comfort while on the operating tables, receiving a constant supply of perfectly controlled warmth.
With a temperature range of 30- 40°C and suitability for all areas – including adult and paediatric operating theatres, recovery suites, wards, and during ambulance transfer – patient warming mattresses have a wide range of benefits that make them ideally suited for the job.
The benefits of this equipment include:
X-ray translucence – Take patients for critical assessments and diagnostics without needing to move them more than necessary while in hospitals, which could otherwise aggravate injuries and cause a drop in core temperature.
Choice of power options – Patients can be warmed on the go thanks to battery-powered and mains controls.
Precise temperature control – Temperature increments can be changed by as little as 0.1°C, with an overall temperature range of 30-40°C.
Removable outer cover – For increased efficiency and hygienic cleaning without stress and fuss.
Fluid warming cabinets
Just as blanket warming cabinets provide warmth and protection from perioperative hypothermia, fluid warming cabinets also play a role in attempting to prevent a drop in core body temperature.
This is achieved by prewarming the fluids used in the operating theatre and recovery zones within hospitals, such as saline IV, surgical irrigation fluids, and contrast media - making it another essential piece of surgical equipment.
Without warmed fluids, normothermia previously achieved with warmed blankets and patient warming mattresses can be undone – putting patients at risk of poorer outcomes and secondary complications.
Other benefits of fluid-warming cabinets include:
Vast capacity ranges – Choose from the smallest capacities or 6 half-litre bottles up to 200 1-litre bottles, allowing you to easily warm fluids for an entire department or multiple surgeries.
Combined fluid and blanket warming models available – If you need to save space, you can combine models and offer both internal and external warming in one piece of operating room equipment.
Sizeable temperature range – From the factory set to a minimum of 37°C up to 60°C.
How do I get a price for operating room equipment?
Thanks to their focus on efficiency, durability, and efficacy, all operating room products provided by QED Scientific can be ordered with or with VAT.
For a bespoke cost for our range of surgical products, reach out to QED Scientific today.
Contact QED Scientific for theatre equipment
To help more patients come around from anaesthetic in a timely manner and get back on their feet, keeping the sick warm is essential.
For theatre equipment including blanket warmers, fluid warmers, or warming mattresses that can help improve care without adding to your workload, why not contact QED Scientific today?
To ask any questions you may have, you can send us an email or call us - we’ll get back to you to help as soon as we can.