Official Therapist Blog

Author Therapy Career Blogger | 01.28.2010 | Category Bair Paws Flex, Product Reviews, physical therapy, rehabilitation therapy

It gets cold in the Midwest, but at Arizant Inc., a forced air blanket provider in Minnesota, the heat is on. The company has created a surgical gown called the Bair Paws Flex gown and it’s going to make physical therapists’ patients—the ones facing surgery—a lot more comfortable during their hospitalization. Bair Paws is made of wood fibers, polypropylene, and polyester; a machine blows warm air between layers of paper, warming up the wearer before, during and after surgery.

Patients Benefiting from the puffy gown joke that it’s no fashion statement, yet like it well enough to inquire of their PT’s: “Can I get this at home?” The short answer is no, but the good news is, the healthcare facilities buying Bair Paws are up by 400 in the past year. Considering that OR temperatures average in the low 60’s, it’s no small wonder patients want to beat the arctic factor and wear this gown—and they’re not the only ones who are crowing.
Bair Paws is convenient for surgeons because it’s loaded with Velcro and can be manipulated during operations so the right parts are accessible, while the rest of the body stays covered and warm. Another advantage: patients wearing it go easily from waiting room to OR—no wardrobe change required. At $15 each, the gowns run a few dollars more per case than forced air blankets, but their popularity endures because doctors and PT’s alike link patient warming to faster recoveries; if post-op patients are going to respond well to rehabilitation therapy, healing is key.

Studies show that patient warming prevents dips in body temperatures, which can cause heart problems, wound infections, blood loss and prolonged recovery. But beyond the basic desire to make patients more comfortable, caregivers are motivated by new standards from Medicare. The government is now connecting two percent of medical pay to performance, of which reporting on and controlling body temps (during a surgical procedure lasting an hour or more) is a huge factor.

Your one line take-away from this story: Global warming bad; patient warming, priceless.