Using Inflatable Cushions is Significantly Less Straining than Manually Proning Patients

For many health care professionals, transferring patients poses a substantial risk to develop musculoskeletal disorders. Reducing manual handling during these patient transfers by proper use of adequate tools can lower the number of injuries and the duration of unavailability for work. A challenging case for patient positioning is seen in spine surgery in the procedure that is known as proning: after sedation, the patient is rolled over and then positioned onto supporting thoraco-pelvic supports (the prone position). This way of patient positioning is normally carried out manually, where the patient is either tilted or lifted. In this study, we compare three proning methods: working with inflatables (one for the proning and another one for the prone position), manually lifting and manually tilting the patient onto the thoraco-pelvic supports. Surface electromyography of the m. erector spinae and the m. trapezius pars descendens is used to evaluate the effect of using inflatables for proning and prone positioning in neurosurgical procedures. Prone positioning with inflatables generally results in less strain (lower median as well as peak surface electromyography results) compared to positioning without inflatables. Compared to manual lifting the results where significant for all investigated muscles. Compared to manual tilting the results show also significantly lower muscle strain, except for the peak strain in the lower back. From the comparison between both manual methods (lifting and tilting), no preference can be expressed for either method.