Surgical positioning: evidence for nursing care

The goal of surgical positioning is to promote access to the surgical site. It should be carried out correctly to ensure patient safety and prevent complications. This integrative literature review aimed to search for and evaluate available evidences in literature about nursing care related to surgical positioning of adult patients in the intraoperative period. Pubmed, Cinahl and Lilacs databases were used for the selection of the articles. The sample consisted of 20 articles. The synthesis of the available evidence showed that included studies focused on three main topics: risk factors for developing complications, complications due to surgical positioning and nursing care related to surgical positioning. Among the gaps in the research theme, the need to conduct studies on effective devices for each type of surgical position is highlighted.