Weighty measures

With the population getting bigger and bigger, the need for bariatric tables is...well, huge.


"Some manufacturers still have general surgical tables rated at a lower weight capacity by today's standard-600 pounds for example-but just a few years ago these would have been considered to have a high-weight capacity," says John Pritchard, II, president of Venture Medical ReQuip, Inc. "Now it is common for tables to have an 800-pound to 1,000-pound or more weight capacity."

There was a time when a 500-pound table was viewed as a bariatric model but these days 800-1,000 pounds is considered the norm.




"You will probably never have to operate on a patient that is 1,200 pounds, but when you start putting people on there that are very easily 400-600-800 pounds to do gastric stapling and things like that, the need for these tables is outrageous," says Shannon Moore, director of sales and marketing for SPBS, Inc., which sells and services refurbished tables. "Now, you can buy extensions to put on the side so you can put 5 inches on each side and make a 27-inch width table busted out to 37-inches. The extra wide extra heavy lifting capacities is becoming more prevalent."

Today, every major manufacturer has one or more bariatric models in their line as it has become a big percentage of their businesses.

"Patient and staff safety are critical regarding the treatment of the bariatric patient as well as patient outcomes," Tomaszewski says.

Tomaszewski says that Skytron is optimizing its specialty tables for bariatric and outpatient surgeries, as well as general purpose table designs that drive value and even greater functionality into each table design, to optimize use and engineer cost out of design without sacrificing performance or ease of use.

"Bariatric surgical programs are one of the fastest-growing programs in the nation, owing to the increasing size of patient populations...including the morbidly obese patient," he says. "These patients are a challenge to work with, move or position. Surgical table requirements for this patient population must be powerful both in lift and articulation capabilities, as well as provide for large imaging windows and go low enough for surgeons to work comfortably."

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