GOALS OF PATIENT POSITIONING

• Provide patient comfort and safety

• Maintaining patient dignity and privacy

• Allows maximum visibility and access

• Supine – This is the most common position for surgery with a patient lying on his or her back with head, neck, and spine in neutral positioning and arms either adducted alongside the patient or abducted to less than 90 degrees. 

• Fowler’s – In Semi Fowler’s Position, the patient is usually on their back. The bed angle is between 30 degrees and 45 degrees. The legs of the patient may be straight or bent. Semi Fowler’s Position can be used when the patient faces difficulty breathing or is undergoing breathing treatments and when drainage occurs after an abdominoplasty 

• Sim’s – The patient lies on the left side with the left thigh slightly flexed and the right thigh acutely flexed on the abdomen; the left arm is behind the body with the body inclined forward, and the right arm is positioned according to the patient’s comfort. 

• Prone – The patient is positioned face-down with their head in a neutral position without excessive flexion, extension, or rotation. 

• Lithotomy – Position in which the patient is on their back with the hips and knees flexed and the thighs apart. The position is often used for vaginal examinations and childbirth 

• Trendelenburg – The patient is on the back on a table or bed whose upper section is inclined 45 degrees so that the head is lower than the rest of the body; the adjustable lower section of the table or bed is bent so that the patient’s legs and knees are flexed. There is support to keep the patient from slipping. 

• Dorsal recumbent – Position of patient on the back, with lower limbs flexed and rotated outward; used in vaginal examination, application of obstetrical forceps, and other procedures.