Sage, a business unit within Stryker’s Medical division, announced today the launch of the Sage Heel Protector OR, a system intended to help reduce the risk of heel pressure injury on patients in the operating room while safely securing the lower limbs during procedures in the supine position.
The heel is the second most common site for pressure injury, which can start during operating room procedures. Patients in surgeries lasting longer than three hours are at an increased risk for pressure injury.
AORN guidelines recommend for patients in the supine position: “The patient’s heel should be elevated off the underlying surface,” and “the patient’s knees should be flexed approximately 5 to 10 degrees.”
The Heel Protector OR’s design addresses the factors required to effectively offload the heels, secure the lower limbs, and maintain recommended knee flexion throughout surgical procedures.
(Image credit: Stryker)
“Our goal is to lead the transition away from placing a pillow behind the knees, and instead use a knee cushion and calf cradles to completely elevate the heels while maintaining the recommended knee flexion, aligning with the AORN guidelines,” says Tim Sterzik, Senior Director of Marketing at Sage.
“This aligns perfectly with the AORN Guideline for Positioning the Patient, allowing the OR team to implement the AORN recommendations in a simple, easy way,” says Sharon Van Wicklin, lead author of the current AORN guideline. “The perioperative team can now follow the AORN recommendations without having to use a lot of different products. It’s all right there for them in one product.”
