J A n U A R Y 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 8 1
W
hen his staff discovered a
tear in the sterile wrap-
ping on the power tools
he was scheduled to use
for a total knee replace-
ment, Thomas Ferro, MD, had 2 choices: wait
a couple of hours for sterile processing to
wash and resterilize the compromised tools or
use the disposable saw and drill the hospital
had in stock for just such occasions. He
decided to give the single-use power tools a
try. Within minutes, he was able to continue
with the procedure. Much to his surprise and
satisfaction, the saw had sufficient power and
battery life to make very precise bone cuts.
"Though not quite at the level of their front-
of-the-line, reusable counterparts, these dis-
posable tools did the job just fine," says Dr.
Ferro, the medical director of the Bone &
Joint Center in Arroyo Grande, Calif. "I plan
to have these tools as backup at every hospi-
tal I work in, specifically for situations like
the one we encountered."
How Far Will
Single-Use Instruments Go?
Joe Madsen | Associate Editor
On-demand, one-and-done disposable
devices can relieve your instrument backlogs
— and you don't have to reprocess them.
"I plan to have these
tools as backup at
every hospital I
work in," says
Thomas Ferro, MD,
of the Bone & Joint
Center in Arroyo
Grande, Calif.
