Overhead Ceiling Lifts: Ceiling lift use with hip surgery patients

Our Hospital has been working hard to decrease over exertion injuries through our Safe Lift Program. Orthopaedics which is one of the heaviest in- patient units continues to have a high number of staff over exertion injuries In an effort to reduce these injuries, we have recently installed overhead ceiling lifts but they are not being used. One of the barriers appears to be with the Orthopaedic Surgeons who feel it is not safe to use lifts with patients who are recovering from hip surgery as hip alignment can be compromised. We have provided hammock slings which are designed to be used for these patients. Do you have any research or experience using lifts with this type of patient that may be helpful or are they correct in determining this can be unsafe? Do you have any suggestions for other assistive devices to help us reduce our injuries?

Arlene Gladstone
North York General Hospital

Dear Arlene:

Obviously there are many different types of hip surgery.  Hip replacement is one of them, and in the following comments we refer to the most common type of hip replacement.   It is important to be informed regarding the type of hip surgery in order to choose the proper equipment to be used if the patient needs to be lifted. 

One of the most common problems that might arise soon after hip replacement surgery is hip dislocation.  Because the artificial ball and socket are smaller than the normal ones, the ball can become dislodged from the socket if the hip is placed in certain positions.  The most dangerous position usually is pulling the knees up to the chest and letting the leg cross the midline of the patient's body.  Therefore it is important that the sling you select provides a hip angle with no more than 90 degrees flexion, for example a Comfort or a Highback sling (Liko products).  Note, however, that the Comfort sling does press the knees together when lifting, but the legs are not crossed over the midline.  In order to separate the knees, a wedge pillow is probably advisable.   Or, if there is a need to separate the knees even more, a sling with separate leg supports such as the Highback Original is a good choice.

Another possibility is to decrease the hip angle even more by using an Amputee sling in size medium together with side bars.

One final recommendation that often works: We recommend you invite the surgeon to attend a situation where the caregivers perform a lift using the proper sling.  You may even wish to invite the surgeon to be lifted himself in order to demonstrate the safety and convenience of this solution which is used extensively throughout the world.

Thanks for your interesting question

The Lift Doctor
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