Orthopedic surgeon Scott Trenhaile, M.D. of Rockford, Illinois, has, in this writer’s opinion, grasped some of the rarely spoken anxieties of female patients who are scheduled for surgery. To his credit he has moved to do something to calm them.
Surgery alone can be frightening enough. But envisioning oneself lying exposed on the operating table to all who are in the room is sufficiently disturbing that it can lead some patients to defer or even avoid necessary surgery.
To address those anxieties, Trenhaile invented patented, surgical-grade undergarments to ease patients’ anxieties of undergoing surgery and the subsequent rehabilitation.
The garments are designed to be worn by patients in the operating theater. They are manufactured by a company called Modicine PatientWear, located in the Chicago area.
The line features a Modesty Bra and Modesty Brief. Created for female shoulder and upper extremity procedures, both garments are comfortable and made of a breathable, surgical-grade composite fabric. They are re-wearable post-surgery and put patient comfort first while ensuring the quality of medical care in the OR.
“Feeling comfortable in a high-stress environment isn’t gender specific,” said Trenhaile. “Being able to make someone feel comfortable when they’re under your care is an invaluable part of the doctor-patient relationship. Modicine PatientWear allows everyone in the operating room to feel empowered knowing the patient is comfortable.”
I’m a patient at a major NYC Orthopaedic Center and require shoulder surgery; however, I cannot have it done under the conditions being offered by them. They provide patients with a pre-surgery brochure which covers ‘what happens day of surgery’ but it includes only up to you putting on gown and goiing into OR then skips directly to PACU. Since I found this extremely odd, I researched what occurs in between these events. First, I feel it is very dishonest of my surgeon and staff to not fully disclose that female patients will be completely disrobed once under anesthesia and that mixed gender staff will be in the OR and prepping the patient while OR cameras roll plus staff iPhones are not monitored [disallowed] in OR. On top of this, my surgeon’s office staff regardless of gender most likely will be in the OR prepping patient but they do not share this information. I would like to schedule my shoulder surgery so would like to purchase the Modesty garnents. Although from the pics, I’m not certain if the design and material are the best solution from a smaller frame female patient’s perspective but they seemto be the only option. Are they available for purchase? If so, what is the cost & how do I purchase?
I have been asking for something like this for YEARS! Patients already feel exposed and violated enough during surgery without having to deal with the psychological trauma presented by being completely naked in a situation where they are going to be unconscious and extremely vulnerable,.as it’s not just the surgeon the patient is exposed to but also a large number of staff – male and female alike.
It would make most patients feel immeasurably safer to have something like this available. I do understand that it would have to be offered by the hospital for safety/sterile purposes. Or packaged in a sterile environment and sealed until the patient opens when prepping for surgery.
Love this idea! Dr. Trenhaile is a great example of how a surgeon should be! Surgeons should take into consideration that there is more to the body than what they see during surgery. That body is a person with thoughts and feelings. All surgeons should be taught to treat their patients as people not just as bodies in need of fixing. I have had experiences and have read several other peoples negative surgery experiences online due to lack of modesty. Surgery is a scary thing. It is an extremely vulnerable position to be in as a patient. It is already a traumatic experience with the fear of getting cut into and the possibility of what if you don’t wake up. But to add onto that that you will be completely exposed for at least 15 minutes to at least 6 people of mixed genders is extremely nerve racking. I suspect that is why hospitals and surgery centers don’t mention the “during surgery” section in there pamphlets. But by withholding this information from patients before procedures and then having patients discover it online later can cause a huge break in trust between patients and their caregivers. Patients should be told about how much they will be exposed and how they will be positioned, who will be in the room etc before surgery. Doctors and surgeons protect a patients modesty while in the clinic or hospital room but then totally disregard it once the patient is out, assuming that they will never remember it anyways, so why make the effort? I think the sterile undergarments are a great idea and would help many people feel more comfortable and confident about going in for surgery. Way to go Dr. Trenhaile!
I am so happy to have found this site! I have bought sterile boxers for my husband but need to have something for myself in the case of unavoidable surgery that does not involve any intimate part of my body. A few years ago my husband had to have a fusion of L4-L5 in his neck. Simple, short procedure………..he told his surgeon (at his office) that he had no intentions of taking off his underwear nor of being catheterized. His surgeon’s words were, “I see no reason for you to not be able to wear your underwear, I won’t be anywhere near that part of you and as far as a catheter, NO! I wouldn’t want to be catheterized either!” However, he did not write this (in red & large letters) across his permission forms for surgery. He said there shouldn’t be a need since he cleared it with his surgeon. I told him his surgeon wouldn’t be there BEFORE they put him out with mind-altering drugs. He showed me where he folded down and under, the waistband of his underwear in an effort to show me they weren’t goinf to remove his underwear. But when the surgical nurse came to get him (a sloppy looking woman), she said “You got your birthday suit on under that purty gown?” He said “Yep!” knowing he was lying and just knowing that clearing it with the surgeon was going to make everything alright. I was angry. I can’t stand when someone won’t stand on firm ground for themselves! I didn’t get to go see him in recovery. They just said they’s let me know when he was on his way back to his room. It was supposed to have been a day surgery but the surgeon got started a bit late so he had to stay overnight. As soon as he got back to his room and we were alone, he showed me the waistband of his underwear. I told him that didn’t prove a thing and that the very minute he lied to that surgical nurse he signed his own fate as far as being shucked out of his underwear! He said “Then how’d I get back to my room the same way I left it?” I told him she had asked that question (and especially the way she asked it) for a reason!” I told him the second he lied to her his fate was sealed because it was her (surgical nurses’) job(s) to make sure he had NOTHING on. “but” he said “I cleared it with Dr………….”, I told him he had and asked if he allowed them to put him out before the doctor got there? He said they had and I told him there was a reason for that and because it was his neck they would have had him totally naked with maybe a sheet on him but after Dr……………..entered the theatre, there went the sheet and the doctor may have said something to them but it was too late. So, of course he went to recovery with a clean gown on and nothing else but a sheet. As soon as he saw me and we were alone, he showed me the waistband of his underwear and of course it was the same as when he’d left for surgery. I didn’t get into it them because company started coming in. But he was wide awake when I saw him, not sleepy, not groggy, nothing and he remembers leaving recovery and everything. Later he said “I told you they did not take me underwear off”. I told him that they most certainly did and that was they’re job and since he had lied to them he had sealed his own fate! He said it was none of her business, then who’s was it!? He asked how then did the band on his underwear stay folded under and over and I just looked at him. I told him you are given a mind-altering drug and a drug that totally relaxes you and that his hand/fingers would have fallen away from the band of his underwear and he wouldn’t have been able to hold them that way, no more than had he been asleep at home. He said “Oh, I guess they took the time to put ’em back on me in the same way they were when he left the room”. I said “No, but you knew very well what you’d said to me and shown me and that I would be not happy because he didn’t stand up for himself and there were people in the room when they came to get him or I would have laid into that surgical nurse. As long as and unless surgery directly involves that specific area of my body, if they EVER ask me if I’m in my birthday suit under that purty gown, I have NO PROBLEM telling them no. When they say “germs” my answer to the them is a question………….”Oh, I see, you change that silly little cap and your scrubs, socks, shoes and underwear before each and every surgery, right?” Then tell them “You’re a lot germier than me so I will not take my underwear off.” I’ve cleared it with the doctor (I will have written across the front of my permission slip in large rd diagonal letters and underlined), then I will tell her “I tell ya what, we’ll just wait until Dr………………..gets here BEFORE I’m given any drugs and prove to them I will NOT be totally disrobed!” I will also have my husband write, in red, indelible skin marker in large letters, “DO NOT REMOVE UNDERWEAR. DO NOT CATHETERIZE!” and I have a MEDICAL DIRECTIVE written out and witnessed by two people that lays it ALL out and leaves nothing to the imagination or to mistake. I have also included that should it or my instructions or my husband’s (should I be unable to speak for myself) not be followed to the letter, that I will contact the Modesty Violations Board and sue for sexual harassment and sexual abuse and anything else I can for brazen ignorance of written medical instructions. I will leave nothing to chance! If my husband does again, he’s own his own! I’m a fighter, I have always been, always will be, intend to die that way! It’s for nurses convenience that you be naked and to catheterize you to drain your bladder, 1. just because they can 2. it makes their job easier so they ward off possibly having to clean up a mess later and they won’t have to take your underwear to do it or take time to remove them in case something should happen. So, stand up and fight for yourself, likely no one else will!