Two loose screws: near-miss fall of a morbidly obese patient after an operating room table failure.

Operating room surgical table failure is a rare event but can lead to a dangerous situation when it does occur. The dangers can be compounded in the presence of obesity, especially in the anesthetized or sedated patient. We present a case of a near-miss fall of a morbidly obese patient while turning the patient in preparation to transfer from the operating room table to the hospital bed when 2 fractured bolts in the tilt cylinder mechanism led to an operating room table failure.

Table tipping and a near-miss fall after unlocking a surgical table holding a morbidly obese patient.

Presented is a case report of a morbidly obese patient who experienced a near-miss fall in the operating room due to several factors. We present the importance of recognizing the change in fulcrum location on a Steris 4085 operating table when the bed is in the unlocked versus the locked position. This small change, in the presence of morbid obesity and reverse orientation of the table, can lead to an unsafe situation in which the patient's weight can cause the table to tip. We present potential ways to avoid this complication.