"CHRISTUS St. Joseph's Hospital uses the Mega Soft™ because it is the best thing for the patient," states Etta Hodge, administrative director of surgical services.

With patient care and comfort of top priority for the 250-bed Houston hospital that treats the area's 3.9 million residents, the Mega Soft reusable return electrode gel pads have become part of the surgical protocol. More than 11,000 surgical cases are performed each year, including 4,000 endoscopy procedures.

Hodge oversees the hospital's surgical services including OR, day surgery, recovery, endoscopy, anesthesia, and materials management. She was introduced to MEGADYNE's Mega Soft and E-Z Clean® electrodes at AORN and found the technologies to be unrivaled. Shortly after the conference, the Mega Soft replaced the disposable return electrodes in the facility's 16 OR suites, and the 24 hour day surgery suites.

Safe, Simple and Sensible
Compared to small, peel-and-stick disposable electrodes or grounding pads, the Mega Soft ensures safe, comfortable skin contact for patients, simplifies application for nurses and is a sensible choice for keeping costs in check.

Many patients have commented on the increased comfort that comes from undergoing surgical procedures with the Mega Soft. Because using the Mega Soft does not require adhesion to the skin, like disposable grounding pads, no shaving is necessary.

Grounding pads make contact with only a limited area of the patient's body, the reusable Mega Soft measures a full 920 square inches to extend the length and width of an adult torso. Mega Soft ensures full and safe electrical patient contact to minimize resistance and eliminate heat build-up. Additionally, there is no pad removal required following surgery. Skipping this step alleviates the problem of damaging debilitated, dehydrated skin. The Mega Soft also reduces pressure, shear, and friction to protect against the formation of Decubitus Ulcers.

Using the Mega Soft has also helped to save nurses time by eliminating many of the pre- and post-operative steps required when using disposable sticky pads.

During surgeries, the Mega Soft also helps to save time for the surgical staff and improve efficiency in the OR. Interruptions and delays from having to wait while the nursing staff places disposable grounding pads and re-drapes the patient are eliminated. Because patients have already been placed onto the Mega Soft during pre-op, if electrosurgery is needed during a procedure, all the circulating nurse needs to do is plug in the electrode.

Recently, the Hospital converted to the dual cord Mega Soft model given its versatility. The dual cords are consistently used in CV cases, plastic surgery, orthopedics and trauma as well as being used regularly in typical surgical cases. The MEGADYNE Mega Soft Return Electrode pad is designed to stand up to the punishing environment of the OR. Its strain resistant, easy-to-use snap-fit connection locks in place with no additional external locking mechanisms. The Mega Soft Cable has been proven to withstand more than one million bending cycles with no breakage.

CHRISTUS St. Joseph's has also included the use of the Mega Soft into their set up protocol to be safely used in conjunction with the HooverMatt® patient transfer system for use on extremely large patients.

While tremendous care and performance benefits are evident including increased safety and comfort for the patient and ease of use for the surgical staff, on the administrative side, Hodge notes that when comparing the use of the Mega Soft to disposable grounding pads, it is very apparent that the cost benefit is there.

"Since we began using the Mega Soft in our OR suites, we have seen significant savings on purchasing and disposing of grounding pads," she stated.

As a result of improved patient safety, ease of use, and cost savings in the main surgical unit, the Women's Center and Labor and Delivery Branch recently converted to the Mega Soft gel pads and have reported that both the patients and medical teams have been thoroughly pleased with their performance.

In addition to the Mega Soft, CHRISTUS St. Joseph Hospital also uses Megadyne's patented E-Z Clean® electrosurgical tips. These non-stick, eschar-resistant, PTFEcoated electrodes minimize eschar build up minimizing the need for repeated retraction, cleaning and reintroduction of standard stainless steel blades and electrodes.

Hodge, commenting that surgeons at CHRISTUS St. Joseph's have autonomy to drive purchasing decisions, said that time and again they choose electrosurgery products from Megadyne. "While costs are carefully monitored, Megadyne proves time and time again to make sense economically and clinically," stated Hodge.

Outstanding Products - Unmatched Service
"Not only are Megadyne's products outstanding, the company is tremendous," added Hodge. "We have been a customer since the first generation of the Mega Soft and during that time the leadership has been great. The company leader's communicate with us regularly and really show us that they value us as a customer."

Megadyne's goal is to provide the best service to its customer. This means regular contact from Megadyne's staff to ensure that all products are performing at their peak and to gather feedback for use in future product enhancements or new product introductions.

"Our primary goal is promoting the wellness and best outcome for the patient," said Hodge. "With Megadyne as our electrosurgery partner, we are well on our way to achieving that."

For more information on the Mega Soft, visit megadyne.com or call 800-747-6110. For more information on CHRISTUS St. Joseph's Hospital visit www.christusstjoseph.org.