electronic monitoring ankle bracelet in OR

Specialties Operating Room

Published

Specializes in LTC, Hospice, corrections, +.

Hi

Is anyone aware of a reason an electronic monitoring device cannot be worn in surgery?

Thanks in advance

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Depending on the surgery, it could interfere with prep/drape/sterile field.

If swelling occurs, there could be a need to cut it off. We often see this with rings.

Risk for skin breakdown- with the patient asleep, there is no movement to relieve the pressure it would cause.

Electrocautery- increases the risk of burns.

I'm sure there are several others as well.

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

Ahhhh....interesting question! I agree with Poet (again!) that the risk of burns is a plausible one. There is really no need at all for a pt to have this on during surgery, and my gut says that it should come off. If this pt is a prisoner, then it should be removed by the guards once the pt is induced. We get prison pts frequently and while they do not arrive with ankle monitors on, they do arrive in handcuffs, chains, ankle cuffs. We simply cannot have the cuffs on during surgery for obvious reasons. I would worry a bit about interference with the EKG monitor/anesthesia machines, but all of our physicians use cell phones and it doesn't seem to interfere at all. But I truly believe that the best course of action would be to remove it, because heaven help us if something untoward happened as a result of an ankle monitoring device!

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Have you seen a patient with a monitoring device on? I haven't come across that yet. Just the guards and the handcuffs.

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