ments and certain postures
are more stressful for joints.
The more you deviate from
neutral positions, the quicker
the joint fatigues. So, for
example, the farther away
from your body you stretch
out your arm, the more tense
the muscles become. If you
bring your arm closer to your
center of gravity, the muscles
automatically relax more. In
an OR setting, you might not
be able to bring your whole
arm close to your center of
gravity, but if you can bring
your elbow a little closer, you
begin to change the dynamics.
Occasionally contracting
and relaxing those muscle groups also helps, as does changing your
position whenever possible, and not assuming more awkward pos-
tures than necessary.
The body doesn't ask for much, but many times we don't even give
it that. It's doing its job when it gives you feedback in the form of
pain. Either it doesn't like your posture and wants you to change it, or
it wants some fresh blood and saturation to go to that region.
People who work in ORs are experts at what they're doing, so
they're perfectly capable of using their best judgment to make these
slight adjustments. A tech may have to hold a retractor in an awkward
position to get the job accomplished, but people often bend and twist
J U N E 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 0 1
• CROWDED FIELD When multiple hands and powerful instruments
are all working within a small operating space, attention and skill are
required to keep hands safe.
