Clinical Downtime vs Social Downtime

Clinical Downtime vs. Social Downtime

 

In this week’s clinical roundtable we are breaching a subject of common confusion – that of post-surgery downtime. The benefit offered by surgical and non-surgical procedures need to be balanced with the risks involved, and we know that many people are confused about this subject; and rightly so. 

It’s a subject close to our hearts, because we’ve tried and tested every worthwhile cosmetic technology since the advent of the first cosmetic “ruby” laser in 1997, and the very first version of the (now household) anti-wrinkle toxin injection approved by the FDA in 2002. In the process we’ve taken in all sorts of manufacturer claims. Some true; some false. Each involved various degrees of downtime, in either of the forms we outline below.

Downtime means different things to different people and is used liberally in our industry. Downtime historically meant the time that the patient was down due to clinical wound care. As devices and procedures progressed, a new term was created to qualify the type of downtime – social downtime. Today, downtime is broken into two groups – clinical and social. Clinical downtime, which is what most of us think of when we think of downtime, involves some sort of non-functional period, or when applied to a cosmetic setting, a period that requires wound care. Social downtime does not require non-functional bed time or wound care, but is a period of time when a patient may prefer to avoid social settings for cosmetic reasons.

We know patients find these classifications confusing, so in next week’s clinical roundtable we’ll offer some examples of each and review some of the latest advancement in no-downtime surgery.

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