Medical equipment and supplies, whether diagnostics, surgical or therapeutic, play a crucial role in the overall treatment of patients. The surgical and medical equipment manufacturing industry in the US posted total revenues of approximately $38.6 billion in 2010 and posted gross profits of 44.16%, according to businesswire.com. Hoovers.com mentions that the US medical equipment and supplies distribution industry comprises of about 7,000 companies, having combined annual revenues of $130 billion. These companies play a crucial role in providing good quality surgical supplies and equipment required for varied medical purposes.
Types of Surgical Supplies
The use of quality surgical supplies is essential for ensuring that a surgery is performed efficiently, is less painful and causes little trauma. Surgical supplies include tools and equipment that are designed to carry out a specific action during an operation. These supplies include a vast variety of instruments, some of which are designed for general use in surgery while others are designed for a specific type of surgery. Some of the commonly required surgical supplies are:
- Graspers such as forceps: These are required to hold on to something.
- Clamps and Occluders for blood vessels and other organs
- Retractors that are used to spread open ribs, tissues, etc
- Mechanical cutters
- Dilators and Specula are used to access narrow passages or incisions
- Suction tubes for removal of body fluids
- Surgical staplers and other sealing devices
- Injection needles and syringes
- Tyndallers are used to help “wedge” open damaged tissues in the brain
- Powered devices such as drills
- Scopes and probes
- Measurement devices like rulers
- Suture hooks and clips
- Laparoscopes for minimal invasive surgeries
- Sterilization containers and materials
- Cutters and Catheters
- Surgical masks
- Instruments for electro surgery
- Anesthesia products
The recent years have also witnessed a demand for disposable surgical supplies so as to reduce the risk of contamination and infection that can hinder the recovery of a patient. However, disposable products are quite costly and not feasible in many instances.
Choosing a Surgical Supplies Distributor
Several distributors of surgical supplies and other types of medical equipment showcase their products on their websites and even take online orders. This makes it easy for a hospital or a nursing home to review the products required and compare the prices quoted by various suppliers. Certain factors, like experience and reputation of a company, the type of products offered, the prices being quoted and the reliability of a firm, play an important role in the selection of a surgical supplies distributor. However, one should not opt for cheap surgical supplies at the cost of compromising the quality of the products. One should take a look at a company’s existing clientele and if possible take their opinion.
