7 Things Every Surgical Team Needs to Have a Successful Surgery

Thanks to the many advances in science and medicine, it is possible to treat most of the illnesses that affect people in the 21st century. One of the most common medical solutions to complicated health conditions is surgery. From the simple sutures given after an injury to the open heart surgery, these processes need ample preparation. If you are head of a surgical team, you know that the success of an operation depends on how well the team was prepared.

1. Physical warm up
According to Dr. Richard Stava of the University of Washington, adding 15 minutes of warm up to a surgical team before a big surgery led to 33 percent increase in the success rate of the surgery. The benefits of the warm up were as follows:

• The time needed to complete tasks reduced
• The margin of surgical errors reduced
• Gesture proficiency increased
• Smoothness of the hand and tool movement improved

According to the article published in the journal of the American college of surgeons, a warm up should be considered by all surgeons before an operation.

2. Temperature regulation
You may have noticed that operating rooms are normally colder than normal. Not many people really understand why. Well, when the human body is under stress, their temperature tends to rise. When this happens, the person starts sweating and this can interfere with the holding of tools. The temperatures in the OR are therefore kept colder than normal to make sure the doctors stay comfortable.

3. Germ free environment
There have been countless cases of infections happening in the surgery room. Most of the times, these happen when there are lapses in the sterilization procedures that are followed in the OR. To start with, all the surgeons and anyone else assisting in the surgery are supposed to scrub before they go in. They are also supposed to wear surgical masks and scrubs for maximum safety.

4. Effective anesthetics
The anesthesiologist is one of the most important parts of the surgical process. Before any surgery starts, they are supposed to find out if the patient has any allergies to the anesthesia that will be used. Whether a regional block will be applied or general anesthesia, they should be there to make sure that the patient responds well. Nothing complicates a surgery more than having a patient wake up during the process.

5. Backup power
A surgical team should never open up a patient without knowing what to do in case the main source of electricity stops working. Normally, it is close to impossible to find the power supply to an OR getting interrupted. However, it is important to have a backup generator that can run all the equipment and provide lighting in case there was a blackout. The backups should be tested from time to time to make sure they haven’t malfunctioned.

6. Blood loss control systems
One of the main reasons why patients are lost in the OR is excessive blood loss. This can happen when the patients have medical conditions that interfere with the clotting of blood. On the other hand, there are cases where losses occur because the processes used to cut, coagulate and desiccate tissue were not the best. One of the modern tools that can help perform these functions in a simple manner without the complications is the use of electrosurgical generators. When the gadget is easy to use, the processes will be carried out in a simple and complication free manner.

7. Coordination
When the OR has been well equipped, the other thing that will determine the success of a surgery is how well the people in the OR coordinate the activities in the room.

Successful surgeries come with a lot of preparation. Having the team in the right mindset and controlling the conditions of the OR will improve the overall outcome of the surgery.