Technological advancements have brought a lot of change in the way surgical procedures are carried out compared to just a decade ago. Operating rooms are becoming more spacious with new and advanced equipment, including patient positioners and surgical table accessories developed to hold a patient in the proper position throughout a surgical procedure. These devices, and others, have become an indispensable part of modern hybrid operating rooms.
The patient positioner and surgical table accessories market is expected to be impacted by an increase in the number of people who are living longer thus increasing the number of surgeries performed each year.
Some additional factors expected to drive the market include the increasing number of ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) across the nation. According to the U.S. Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the number of Medicare-certified ASCs increased by an average annual rate of 3.6 percent in the country from 2006 to 2010. The continuous increase in the number of ASCs is likely to contribute to an increasing demand for surgical table accessories, according to PRNewswire.
An increase in the number of obese patients undergoing surgical procedures has created a demand for new patient positioners designed to accommodate larger patients. This is a growing segment of the market.
The popularity of hybrid operating rooms that include patient positioners and surgical table accessories is another reason industry insiders forecast market growth.
Janet Kaplan, Director of Marketing, Action Products, Inc.-Medical Products Group, said the industry is growing because of the demand for patient positioners to assist with advanced procedures.
Hybrid ORs are another reason cited when it comes to market expansion predictions. Hybrid operating rooms offer surgeons and health care professionals greater operational flexibility by enabling easy access to various types of surgical and imaging equipment such as CT and MRI scanners.
“Radiolucent products are a must in a hybrid OR to accommodate the CT and MRI scanners,” Kaplan said.
Proper patient positioning is also an important aspect of robotic surgeries and as these procedures have become more common the demand for patient positioners has increased. Manufacturers are working to accommodate the needs of health care facilities.
“The industry is challenged to create products to accommodate robotic surgeries’ extreme positions. The biggest complaints are: patients sliding, pinched extremities and severe eye pressure,” Kaplan said.
The patient positioners and surgical table accessories market is a segment of the larger operating room equipment market. The global operating room equipment market was valued at $2.67 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.2 percent from 2013 to 2019, to reach an estimated value of $4.05 billion in 2019, according to Transparency Market Research.
