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Festival of Trees raises money to purchase rehab
machine |
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January 1, 2015 |
by Lauren Kuczka
Boundary Community Hospital
Marketing and Community Relations
The Fry Healthcare Foundation is pleased to
announce that they were able to raise the funds
required to purchase the Kinetec Centura
Anatomical Shoulder and Elbow Continuous Passive
Motion (CPM) machine for Boundary Community
Hospital Rehabilitation Services. The money for
the CPM Machine was pledged during the
Fund-An-Item portion of the Festival of Trees
Gala held in December.
“The support and generosity of the community for
the Fry Healthcare Foundation directly impacts
the high quality of care provided by Boundary
Community Hospital," said Fry Healthcare
President, Carol Julian. “Thank you to everyone
who helped make this year’s Festival of Trees
such a success and giving us the
opportunity to gift the hospital with this
necessary piece of equipment.”
The CPM Machine provides post-operative passive
range of motion rehabilitation, which prevents
joint stiffness, edema, soft tissue contractures
and muscle atrophy. The color-coded patient
set-up is anatomical, comfortable and easy, hand
programmable, and interchangeable for right and
left side use. With an estimated
25% of the Hospital’s outpatients presenting
with shoulder issues, this passive range of
motion machine will be a significant addition to
the Rehabilitation Department.
Manager of Rehabilitation Services Petra
Timmermans explains:“In the early days of
orthopedic surgery, rest and immobilization were
often prescribed as the most important part of
the initial healing process. Over time,
ongoing research however has shown that for
joints, ligaments and muscles to heal optimally,
the earlier movement can be re-introduced, the
better.
"Early movement helps with pain control,
decreases swelling, and increases the blood flow
to the area, which helps with healing. The
so-called 'synovial fluid,' a fluid that is
present inside joints and lubricates them,
depends on joint movement for its production to
be triggered. Surrounding soft tissue -
ligaments, tendons and muscles - benefit from
early gentle stretching to prevent cramping and
tightening.
"Those who have had a knee replacement may be
familiar with a CPM machine for the knee. These
simpler units are often prescribed as a home
unit for the first few weeks after surgery, and
provide passive, gentle, slow bending and
straightening of the knee within prescribed
limits. This has proven to be very effective for
the early part of the rehabilitation and helps
with pain control as well as regaining knee
movement early on. In addition, these patients
are able to start walking and actively using
their muscles from day one after surgery.
"At the Boundary Community Hospital Rehab
Department, we also see many patients after a
shoulder injury or surgery. They are an
estimated 25% of our caseload and we see more
patients after shoulder surgery than hip and
knee combined. Compared to the hip and knee, the
shoulder is a very flexible joint with an
immense range of movement. This allows us to do
activities such as playing golf or tennis or
reaching behind our back. The downside is that
the shoulder is much more susceptible to injury
and overuse. Because there are so many more
small muscles and tendons surrounding and
stabilizing the shoulder, injury or surgery
often needs to be followed by a period of
protection of the tissues that were damaged, to
prevent further damage or tearing.
"A CPM machine can guide the shoulder joint
through all its movements, and provide slow,
gentle motion on a consistent and predictable
basis. Because the patient does not need to move
their own muscles, this machine can be used
immediately. Thanks to the Fry Healthcare
Foundation and the Festival of Trees,
this now has become a reality for our Rehab
Department and we are extremely excited to have
this state-of-the-art piece of equipment
available to us.” |
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