Lindsay Keeley, patient safety and quality lead, for the Association for Perioperative Practice, provides an insight into the importance of surgical lighting and the demands surgical specialties have on theatre lighting.
The operating theatre is a challenging controlled environment that has become more complex and technically challenging since the discovery of electricity in 1879, and the subsequent advances in surgery across all specialties we now see today in the 20th century. This has influenced the demands placed on theatres and surgical lighting as technology and equipment has advanced across numerous specialties.
There are several Health Building Notes (HBNs) which provide a framework and guidance on facilities required for operating theatres and specialties with specific functions and design requirements:
The above building notes will identify and provide the exact guidance and requirements recommended to deliver “Best Practice” in planning both new and modifying existing surgical facilities. It is essential to provide some natural environmental lighting in operating theatres; however, this may not always be possible and, in this instance, artificial lighting should be considered as an alternative. A surgical field lighting analysis should be considered of the environmental and associated surgical challenges. The lighting can consist of different models: some with integrated cameras; they can be single or two arm pendants with multiple luminaire systems attached to a suspension arm, which is normally mounted at a fixed point on the ceiling; or positioned along a ceiling mounted track.
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