SURGICAL DRAPE

Abstract: Known operation drapes can include several layers, of which one is fluid absorbing and one fluid impervious. The drape is attached to the skin close to an area of surgical site in order to eliminate transmission of infection or contamination during the operations. In order to improve the known operation drape so it is easy to attach it watertight to the skin and prevent fluid to reach the skin and also make it partly reusable and partly recoverable, the drape consists of two layers, which are connected along one edge by an attachment area. A second attachment area is arranged parallel to the first one in order to establish attachment to the skin in such a way that the fluid barrier layer is placed to the skin and the absorbing layer is placed on to the fluid barrier layer.

Description: SURGICAL DRAPE The invention refers to an operation drape combined of several sheets, including an absorbing sheet and fluid barrier sheet, and which drape is to be taped to the skin of a patient along an area of surgical. In order to safely eliminate transmission of infection or contaminations during the operation, operation drapes are used of the kind described above. The drape often includes two sheets of absorbing material having a fluid barrier between. In this way two objects are achieved, namely absorbation of fluid and a fluid barrier in the same product. A known way of achieving these objects is to put together nonwoven plastic film and excelsior tissue into a laminate. All these substances are thus of disposable type. Another known and still useful method is to place a thin plastic film between two fabric sheets. The two mentioned methods work similarly from the point of forming a barrier and effecting absorption. There is however a great problem, which consists in how to safer restrict the area of surgical. This is accomplished in the simpliest way by using some kind of tape, which means that the barrier layer is taped to the skin of the patient in order to eliminate that fluid can be led in between the skin and the barrier layer. This must be avoided because the fluid is an excellent carriage agent for microbes . In order to avoid that the fluid reaches the skin, soft flexible fluid tight material should be used, which material follows the irregularity of the skin of the patient. It should also be avoided that pockets are formed between the two sheets. The present invention provides an operation drape having the features stated in the enclosed claims, which is easy to fix fluidtight to the skin and which has one sheet, which absorbs SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) ISA/SE the fluid and a second sheet which prevents fluid to reach the skin around the area of surgical. Further it is achieved that the operation drape according to the invention partly is reusable and partly recoverable. The drape is thus in two sheets and they can be separated from each other and be reused and be recovered respectively. Reusable products have not only good environmental influence but are also more economical by that they can be used several times and also by that the probable future destruction fee which will burden the price of the products, can be devided on a large amount of applications. Two embodiments of the invention will be described in the following by reference to enclosed drawings . Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic view of an operation drape according a first embodiment of the invention viewed on the side, which shall be placed on the skin. Fig. 2 illustrates schematically a sideview of the operation drape according to fig. 1. Fig. 3 illustrates in the same way as fig. 1 a second embodiment of the invention. Fig. 4 illustrates schematically a sideview of the embodiment according to fig. 3. As can be seen from fig. 1, the operation drape is rectangular, in one end of which there is an attachment area 1, by which the drape is fastened to the skin. A plastic film 2 follows behind the attachment area 1, which plastic film is fluid tight and relatively thin and is placed to the skin and follows it well when the drape is used. Reference is made to fig. 2 for the following description. A sheet 3, which consists of fluid absorbing textile, is arranged on a plastic film 2. The drape is shown upside down in fig. 2 in relation to the position when the drape is applied to the skin. The two sheets 2 and 3 are preferably attached to a self-adhering tape 4 forming a first attachment area 5 for the sheet 2 and a second attachment area 6 for the sheet 3. The two attachment areas 5 and 6 are thus in the form of two parallel strips which are close to and parallel with the attachment area 1 of the tape 4. When the operation drapes are in store and before they are to be used, the attachment area 1 is preferably covered by a strip which can be teared off. Thus, fig. 2 shows the operation drape before it is used and the attachment area 1 is to the right, which is covered by a protecting strip (not shown) , to the left of attachment area 1 is a plastic film attached along a strip area 5 and thereafter further to the left is the fabric attached to a strip formed area 6. When the operation drape is to be used, the protecting strip is teared off and the attachment area underneath the strip is pressed to the skin close to the operation area. The plastic sheet is hereby applied to the skin and the tape 4 stops the fluid to penetrate inbetween the skin and the plastic film from the operation area. The fabric layer 3 which absorbs fluid is thus upon the plastic sheet and is attached to the tape 4. Fluid which flows over the tape 4 and over the attachment area 1 will flow along the tape and will then be absorbed to the most by the layer 3. The fluid will not come into contact with the skin because this will be prevented by the fluidtight plastic layer under the absorbing layer 3. A simple way to assemble the operation drape is to use a self- adhering tape 4. The tape could be covered by three strips, each one of which corresponds to one of the attachment areas 1, 5 and 6 respectively. When assembling the operation drape the protecting strip, which covers the attachment area 6 is first teared off and the layer 3 is attached, whereafter a protecting strip, which covers the attachment area 5 is teared off so that the plastic sheet can be attached. The strip covering the attachment area 1 remains. The self-adhering tape 4 is preferably a thin flexible tape in the form of e.g. non-woven fabric charged with an adhesive which does not cure. The protecting strips are treated in a known way so that they adhere very little to the attachment areas and they can therefore be taken away without effecting the adherence ability. A second embodiment is shown in fig. 3 and 4 and consists of a plastic film being the barrier layer. An absorbing layer 3 is layed on the plastic film as earlier described in connection with the first embodiment of the invention. The two layers 2 and 3 are detachably connected to each other by means of a strip 7 of adhesive which is applied along one edge of the plastic film. The strip of adhesive is one which does not cure completely, which allows the two layers to be separated after the operation drape has been used. There is a corresponding second strip of adhesive 8 on the other side of the plastic film layer 2. The strip of adhesive 8 is protected by a detachable protecting strip 9 when the operation drape is not used. The operation drape according to the second embodiment is assembled by that two ribbons of not completely curing adhesive are charged on the plastic film 2 along one edge, one ribbon on each one of the two sides of the plastic film 2. The two ribbons are thereafter covered by a protecting strip and when the fabric layer 3 later on is to be applied to the plastic film, one of the protecting strips is taken away. The second protecting strip 9 which is on the side of the plastic film, which is to be placed on to the skin, remains as long as the operation drape is stored. Just before the operation drape is to be used said protecting strip 9 is taken away and the operation drape is taped to the skin adjacent the operation area. Further embodiments within the scope of this invention are possible. Thus, it is not necessary that the two layers have separated attachment areas but these can be arranged edge to edge detachable from the tape 4 but it is important that there are two layers of which one is a plastic film layer to be placed on the skin. It is also important that the plastic film is safely fastened to the skin so that there is no leakage in under the plastic film. This is best achieved by the embodiments according to fig. 3 and 4. The two layers 2 and 3 shall be detachably connected to each other so that the operation drape is partly reusable and partly recoverable. This means that the absorbing layer 3 is reusable while the layer 2 is recoverable because it is a plastic. The tape 4 is however practically not reusable or recoverable.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Operation drape made of several layers, including one layer of an absorbing fabric and one fluid barrier layer, which operation drape is taped to the skin adjacent the area of surgical, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the operation drape consists of two layers (2, 3) of which the fluid barrier layer (2) is a thin fluid proof plastic film, the two layers being connected along only the length of one edge by means of a first detachably adhering continuous attachment area (7) and that a second adhering attachment area (8), which is parallel with and of the same length as the first attachment area (7), is arranged on the fluid barrier layer in order to adhere to the skin whereby the two layers (2, 3) can be separated after the operation along the first detachable continuous attachment area (7) for the absorbing layer to be reused. 2. Operation drape according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the two attachment areas (7, 8) are arranged opposite to each other, on each side of the fluid barrier layer (2) and that the attachment areas are surfaces of adhesive, whereat the surface of adhesive (8), which is applied to the skin, is covered by a detachable protecting strip (9) before the operation drape is applied. 3. Operation drape according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the attachment areas (7, 8) are formed by a two-side adhering tape.

Inventors: WALLIN LARS-GOERAN, WALLIN, LARS-GOERAN
Applicants: SILECO HB, WALLIN LARS GOERAN, WALLIN, LARS-GOERAN
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A61B19
IPC codes: A61B19