The release of the The Pink Hip Kit by Xodus Medical has been a game changing advancement in terms of patient safety for hip procedures. It is a complete positioning system that eliminates both the need for a perineal post and any associated risk of nerve injury to the perineum.¹ Additionally, patented skin-friendly materials are used to safeguard areas of the patient that are susceptible to Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries.

Independent studies done on this product have demonstrated better patient outcomes in the form of significantly reduced postoperative pain, improved recovery times, and overall patient satisfaction. Surgeons have reported that even challenging hip procedures can be performed more successfully, in less time, and with greater ease. The postless approach in combination with The Pink Hip Kit makes distraction safer by reducing traction time and force, while a greater range of motion and improved surgical access during allow for a more complete dynamic exam. Kits are available for a variety of table brands which allows the surgeon to utilize their existing equipment and techniques, making the transition to "postless" easy and economical.²

Here's what Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Institute of Academic Medicine at Houston Methodist, Dr. Joshua Harris, had to say about The Pink Hip Kit in an interview:

"When you use the post between the legs, a large amount of pressure is applied to the perineum area that can be associated with skin injury and nerve injury and can happen as high as 30-35%. If you can eliminate the post, you can actually reduce that complication to the perineum down to 0%."

Even with heightened national attention, deaths resulting from opioid overdose, many of which are prescribed pain relievers, continue to have a devastating impact on communities, healthcare cost, and our economy overall. While individual states work to put opioid reduction plans into place, promoting harm reduction is a common goal within all of them.³ When discussing how The Pink Hip Kit reduces the need for Dr. Harris to prescribe pain medication for his patients he said this:

"With less pain, they were able to recover and get to therapy a little bit better and there was a zero percent incidence of any numbness or skin problems in their perineum and their inner thigh. We really try to get patients off of pain medications and any kind of opioid dependency within the first one to two weeks, so if you can reduce that early pain by using The Pink Hip Kit, then that is one of the biggest advances that we have in our hip preservation techniques because we can make our surgery safer and make our surgery better."

Is it Time to Bag Bean Bags?

• Especially with heavier patients, bean bags sometimes just aren't stable;
• Bean bags can have hidden pinholes that prevent suction, a major problem if the patient is already intubated. During long cases they can also lose suction and pancake, threatening the patient's stability;
• Their use sometimes results in skin ulcers and nerve damage. That's not only bad care; it can be a costly "never event";
• They have to be cleaned between cases, slowing room turnover because the surface needs to air dry;
• They are potential cross-contamination sources. I've seen bodily fluids on reusable bean bags more than once.

• It's incredibly comfortable. It molds to the patient's contours and grips the skin while reducing pressure and shear. The high-tech Pink Pad material feels like the viscoelastic gel pads on expensive beds.

• With bean bags, if the patient sweats, there's nowhere for the liquid to go, and that can exacerbate skin breakdown. The Pink Pad material wicks away moisture, helping to prevent ulcers. The material is so skin-friendly that I sometimes cut off the corners and use the scraps to cushion the hard parts of the IV.
• Once you're in tilt, there's no pressure on the head, neck or shoulders and no worries about pressure or nerve injuries there.
• Set up is less than a minute, saving us 5 to 6 minutes per procedure. When you consider that OR time can cost as much as $80 per minute, the Pink Pad pays its own way and then some.
• The Pink Pad is single-use, so there's no risk of cross-contamination.

Positioning your Way to Better Economic Outcomes

• The cost of slippage. In many cases, patients slip enough to force the OR team to undock the robot and sometimes retuck the arms and reposition the stirrups, taking 15 minutes or more. If OR time costs $100/minute¹, that adds up to at least $1,500. For example, if this occurs in one case out of 10, slippage adds at least $150 to the cost of each case on average. Of course if skin shear or port trauma occurs during the slip, the cost is even higher.
• The cost of pressure injuries (PIs). PIs are all too common with the traditional approach. In our facility, we find that shoulder braces result in shoulder pain for at least 1 in 4 patients, while beanbags result in skin issues for about 1 in 5. Let’s say these develop into a full-blown PI once every 100 cases. Each pressure injury costs a facility $43,180². That means PIs raise the cost of the traditional approach by another $432 per case.
• Legal/reputational costs. At least 17,000 pressure injury patients file lawsuits every year. It’s the second most common claim after wrongful death.³ Even a successful defense of a malpractice suit costs $50,000 according to AMA. When the case involves use of products like egg-crate foam for unintended/unapproved purposes, it may be even harder to defend. Such cases may also sour patients and surgeons on your facility because of Never Events there. What’s the cost of that?