At least 1 in 10 patients develop intraoperative pressure ulcers (PUs). The specific rigid (bio)mechanical constraints that apply in the operation room (OR) and which are unique to this clinical environment, including the inability to periodically reposition patients during surgery and the need to use a ‘stable’ support surface with relatively stiff padding materials lead to soft tissue exposure to extreme conditions of sustained tissue deformations and stress concentrations due to bodyweight forces. Accordingly, the risk of intraoperative PUs, which are triggered and driven by a sustained cell and tissue deformation/stress exposure, is especially high on the operating table (OT). Importantly, the basic OT and OT pad designs are simple and have changed very little over at least a century. The available OT pads, in particular, did not evolve despite the well-known and documented risk for PUs among surgical patients. This article reviews the relevant biomechanical studies published by the author and his research group with respect to the extents of tissue deformations expected on the OT at the body regions which are most susceptible to intraoperative PUs, namely the sacral region and the posterior aspects of the heels. These are the body sites which transfer considerable bodyweight forces in a supine position and contain relatively ‘sharp’ bony prominences compressing relatively thin soft tissue structures, as evident by the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies conducted by the author and his team, as reviewed here. The results reported in this article further highlight the roles of OT pad and positioner materials in reducing localized tissue deformations and thereby, in lowering the risk of intraoperative PUs.

每10名患者中至少有1名出现术中压疮（PU）。适用于手术室（OR）且在此临床环境中特有的特定刚性（生物）机械约束，包括无法在手术期间定期重新定位患者，以及需要使用带有相对刚性衬垫的“稳定”支撑表面这种材料会导致软组织暴露于持续的组织变形和由于重力引起的应力集中的极端条件下。因此，在手术台（OT）上，由于持续的细胞和组织变形/应力暴露而触发和驱动的术中PU的风险特别高。重要的是，基本的OT和OT焊盘设计很简单，并且至少在一个世纪内变化很小。可用的OT垫，特别是 尽管众所周知并有外科手术患者患PU的风险，但该病并没有发展。本文回顾了作者及其研究小组发表的有关生物变形的程度的相关生物力学研究，这些变形在OT上预期对术中PU最敏感的身体区域（即s骨区域和脚跟的后部）发生的程度。如作者和他的团队进行的磁共振成像（MRI）研究所证明的，这些身体部位在仰卧位置传递了相当大的体重力，并且包含相对“尖锐”的骨突出物，压缩了相对薄的软组织结构，这一点已得到作者及其团队进行的磁共振成像（MRI）研究的证实这里。