Table width, mattress thickness and rail reach all quietly assume an average patient. Here is how to equip for the cases that fall outside it.
Three Separate Constraints
A patient wider than the table surface is one problem. A thick mattress that leaves no gap beneath the armboard is another, and an accessory that will not reach far enough along the rail is a third.
They tend to arrive together and they have different answers, so it is worth separating them before you order anything.
Widening the Surface
Reison’s Widening Sections are supplied in pairs in four sizes: Part no. 10-421 at 240 mm, 10-425 at 300 mm, 10-422 at 445 mm and 10-423 at 500 mm. The 240 mm pair weighs 4.2 kg and the 300 mm pair 2.9 kg, and each is available with or without a cushion.
One detail matters more than the width itself. Each section is made in aluminum and carries an extra rail on the outside. The accessories you were already using therefore stay where they are when the table gets wider. Without that rail, widening the table would cost you your armboard position.
The Gap Beneath the Armboard
Mattress thickness is the constraint most departments meet first. The catalog is direct about it: sometimes the space between the mattress and the armboard is tight, and a deeper spacer is what resolves it.
Reison stocks two spacer sizes, with the 10 mm spacer as standard and the 30 mm spacer intended for tables with wide or thick mattresses. The 30 mm version is Part no. 10-380-S30 with a curved plate, or 10-380-M with a flat plate.
Where the mattress is thicker still, the long post versions give more range: Part no. 10-380-L adjusts from 90 mm to 345 mm, against 90 mm to 175 mm on the standard 10-380. All of them carry a Safe Working Load of 12 kg.
Reaching Along the Rail
Extension rails extend the side rails you already have. The catalog is specific about when they are needed: when accessories have to sit far out at the head or foot end of the table.
They are sold in pairs with a clamp included, in two lengths, Part no. 10-491 at 280 mm and 10-491-L at 500 mm. Each rail weighs 2.1 kg and carries a Safe Working Load of 20 kg. They attach to either the EU accessory rail at 25 x 10 mm or the UK rail at 1¼ x ¼ inches.
Choosing Between a Spacer and a Longer Post
These two solve overlapping problems and are the pair most often confused. Choose a 30 mm spacer or a long post when:
- The mattress is thick enough that the armboard sits tight against it
- You are fitting an armboard to a table your department does not normally use
- The clearance you need is more than the 10 mm spacer provides
- Adjustment beyond 175 mm would solve it, which points to the long post 10-380-L
- One table has to serve a wide range of patient sizes
Measure Before You Order
Spacer, post length and widening section all depend on the table and the mattress in front of you rather than on the procedure. Measure the gap you actually have, with the mattress you actually use.
The Armboard Matrix and the Clamp Matrix published at reison.se set out which armboard and which clamp suit which configuration. Orders are often dispatched the same day when they arrive before 11:00.
A spacer is easier to judge against your own mattress than against a drawing. Reison sends products out on trial for around two weeks on return terms. To arrange one, write to info@reison.se.
Perspectives
