Prevention of Complications Related to Patient Prone Positioning during Spinal Neurosurgical Care: A Nursing Point of View

Background: The gold standard to ensure correct patient positioning is represented by the maximum surgical exposure and the minimal risk of damage. The aim of this study was to analyze the complications related to patient prone positioning in spinal neurosurgical care from a nursing point of view, highlighting the measures that have to be used to prevent them. Methods: An integrative literature review methodology was used, conducted from 1998 to 2010. The articles were then selected according to the following question: What is the proper nursing care in the correct prone positioning during spinal surgery? We analyzed first of all the review articles and the multicentric studies, then the case reports. Results: We report in detail the complications that emerged from literature review regarding the prone position, with more attention to possible preventive and prophylactic measures. Conclusions: Operating room nurses seem to be the point of connection between the patients needs and the surgeon responsibilities. The operating room nurses have to be aware about anatomic district of interest, the pathology, the surgical procedure and the time of execution for a correct management of the pathology. The safety and well-being of surgical patients are in the hands of the perioperative team when they enter the operating room. To achieve this goal, the most important thing is the careful coordination of the activities of all personnel. Ensuring a safe and comfortable environment for every surgical patient is the shared responsibility of everyone on the OR team. Working together, the surgeon, the surgical assistant, the anesthesia provider, perioperative nurses and surgical technicians improve patient outcomes by creating and maintaining the optimum surgical position.