Medical Equipment Reps in OR?

I'm scheduled for a laparascopic hysterectomy (also taking out ovaries) on June 7 and during my pre-op visit the doctor said that representatives of the company than makes the equipment will be in the OR. Is that usual?

Yes, it is. I used to work for one and they will come for a lot of reasons. Most often times they make sure the product is being used correctly and being utilized properly.

Funny you mention it. I found the surgery I am having on orlive.com (lsh) which happened to be filmed about 30 miles from where I live. The doctor introduced two guys who were from the company that made the "morcellator" ...... there were in the background the whole time. Never went near the doc or the patient. While I watched it....I wondered what the point was of them being there. But it makes perfect sense as the poster above states it.

Thank you for your answer. This really bothers me, especially because as I read about my procedure it seems that I will be in that lovely lithotomy position for at least some of the time, and it's such a vulnerable and humiliating posture to be in. What are these folks' backgrounds? I'm assuming they're men. I totally trust my doctor and the surgical team but they're professionals, and these other guys -- what are they? salesmen? Like pharmaceutical reps? Thanks for any info you can give based on your work experience.

Could be men or women. They wont be looking at you in that position. They only care about the equipment they are reps for. A lot of times, they just need to see the instruments used in order to calibrate it again, or to do updates to software etc.

In some cases, they are able to help the Dr to better understand a tool or machine so that they are able to fully utilize each to its full capacity.

Hope I helped to ease your worries honey!

Yes, that helps; you're so kind. Thank you very much.

The orlive surgery showed the patient in that position fully draped. And the reps were about 5 feet behind the surgeon. I would assume your right to privacy would be adhered to in a similar way.

I'm an RN in a procedure area that uses reps all the time. They aren't in there thinking about you being in a compromising position, especially because they see it every day, but they very much care about keeping you safe and making sure their product is used in the right way. Our reps are excellent and help our docs all. The. Time. I hope I have a rep to keep my surgeon straight.

Often times the reps are people who have medical backgrounds. I have two friends who are reps who were previously OR technicians. They now assist the physicians in the ways described above.