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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
covers. To combat the hardness of the mattress, we used gel overlays.
To fight the cool temperature of the gel overlays, we placed water-cir-
culating warming blankets underneath them. It was a self-defeating
system.
We had a few 3-inch thick, high-quality memory foam mattresses in
some of our ORs, but we were sandwiching those between warming
blankets and gel overlays. The thin mattresses, gel overlays, and heat
and moisture from the blankets created the perfect environment for
pressure ulcers and wounds. We educated staff on best practices for
using the high-quality memory foam mattresses, with only a single sheet
cover instead of the warming blanket and gel overlays, and transitioned
all of the ORs to the high-quality memory foam mattresses. We selected
the 3-inch versions because we do a number of bariatric procedures,
and patients with larger BMIs could bottom out on 2-inch thick mat-
tresses.
2
Rethink your method
of patient warming
There was another part of the OR table that we had to correct
— our "old-school" water-circulating warming blankets. There were 2
big problems with the thin, blue, plastic warming blankets. First, they
were placed underneath the gel overlays, which were often smaller
than the blanket in some areas, occasionally causing burns if a
patient's skin got in contact with the blanket. Second, the blankets
were plastic and circulated warm water. By using them, we were trap-
ping heat and moisture underneath patients, contributing to pressure
ulcers.
The new mattresses alleviated our need for these blankets. Because
the memory foam mattresses were designed to relieve pressure points
P R E S S U R E U L C E R S
