Patent Publication Number: US-2002007834-A1

Title: Surgical drape

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates generally to surgical drapes and, more particularly, to surgical drapes with multiple components.  
       [0002] A various assortment of drapes have been proposed for surgical procedures, during which the drapes are used to cover the body of a patient and maintain a sterile barrier around the operative site while the procedure is performed through a fenestration in the drape. Typically, such drapes have been provided with fenestrations of a predetermined size for use in a particular surgical procedure depending upon the size and location of the surgical site. Accordingly, an excessive number of drapes are required, and drapes must sometimes be replaced or cut pursuant to related procedures. For example, procedures on children and adults require fenestrations of different size. Accordingly, it has been necessary for hospitals to maintain a stock of different drapes for performing the different procedures. Alternatively, the fenestration of a drape designed for a smaller surgical procedure must be cut to enlarge the fenestration for an expanded surgical procedure, which has been time consuming and inconvenient for the operating room team, as well as increasing the likelihood of contamination of the drape.  
       [0003] Disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,891 is an improved surgical drape usable selectively for surgical procedures involving sites of various size. The disclosed surgical drape fails, however, to fully satisfy certain surgical needs.  
       [0004] The object of this invention, therefore, is to provide an improved surgical drape which can be used selectively for a wide variety of surgical procedures.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005] The invention is a surgical drape including a flexible sheet having a top surface and an outer edge including distinct given and particular segments, the primary sheet defining a fenestration for accommodating a surgical procedure; a flexible first flap secured to the given segment and shaped and arranged to be foldable over the sheet into a position substantially covering the fenestration; and a flexible second flap secured to the particular segment and shaped and arranged to be foldable over the sheet into a position substantially covering the fenestration. The flaps are deployable to selectively reduce the size of the fenestration.  
       [0006] According to one feature of the invention, the first flap is foldable over the sheet in one direction and the second flap is foldable over the sheet in another direction transverse to the one direction. This feature facilitates selective, two-dimensional reduction in the size of the fenestration.  
       [0007] According to another feature of the invention, the top surface defines a fluid repellent border surrounding the fenestration, the first flap has a bottom surface including a fluid repellent outer boundary portion; and the second flap has a bottom surface including a fluid repellent outer boundary portion. The fluid repellent border and first and second flaps provide dimensional stability for the fenestration.  
       [0008] According to a further feature of the invention, the drape includes a first securement for fixing the first flap in a position covering one selective portion of the fenestration, and second securement for fixing the second flap in a position covering another selective portion of said fenestration. The securements retain the flaps in the selected positions.  
       [0009] According to an additional feature of the invention, the first securement is detachably secured to the bottom surface of the first flap, and the second securement is detachably secured to the bottom surface of the second flap. This feature facilitates securement of the flaps into selective positions.  
       [0010] According to still other features of the invention, the sheet is rectangular, the given and particular segments are adjacent edge portions of the outer edge and the fenestration is rectangular. These features facilitate selective size reduction of the fenestration.  
       [0011] The invention also encompasses a method for utilizing the surgical drape and including the steps of placing the drape on a patient; aligning the fenestration over a surgical site on the patient; and folding the first and second flaps into selective positions partially covering the fenestration. Such manipulation of the flaps establishes a desired reduced size for the fenestration.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0012] These and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent upon a perusal of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:  
     [0013]FIG. 1 is a plan view of a surgical drape according to the invention;  
     [0014]FIG. 2 is a front view of the surgical drape shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0015]FIG. 3 is a left end view of the surgical drape shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;  
     [0016]FIG. 4 is a right end view of the surgical drape shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;  
     [0017]FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the surgical drape of FIG. 1 in a first selective deployment;  
     [0018]FIG. 6 is a plan view of the surgical drape shown in a second selective deployment;  
     [0019]FIG. 7 is a plan view of another surgical drape embodiment;  
     [0020]FIG. 8 is a left end view of the surgical drape shown in FIG. 7; and  
     [0021]FIG. 9 is a right end view of the surgical drape shown in FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0022] A surgical drape  11  includes a flexible sheet  12  having a top surface  13  and an outer edge  14  partially formed by a given segment  14  and an adjacent particular segment  15 . Defined by the flexible sheet  12  is a fenestration  18  for accommodating a surgical procedure. A suitable fluid repellent strip  19  is secured, as by stitching, to the top surface  13  of the flexible sheet  12  so as to provide a fluid repellent border surrounding the fenestration  18 . Preferably, the flexible sheet  12  and the fenestration  18  are rectangular as shown in FIG. 1.  
     [0023] Also included in the surgical drape  11  is a first flexible flap  21  secured to the given segment  15  of the edge  14  and a second flexible flap  22  secured to the particular segment  16  of the outer edge  14 . Preferably, each of the first and second flaps  21 ,  22  has a surface area equal to that of the flexible sheet  12  as shown in FIG. 1. Secured, as by stitching, to an outer boundary portion of a bottom surface of the first flap  21  is a fluid resistant strip  26 . Similarly secured to an outer boundary portion of a bottom surface  27  of the second flap  22  is a fluid repellent strip  28 .  
     [0024] During use of the surgical drape  11 , the second flap  22  can be folded over the top surface  13  of the flexible sheet  12  into a selective position partially covering the fenestration  18  as illustrated in FIG. 5. A resultant fenestration opening  31  of reduced size is bordered by a portion of the fluid repellent strip  19  of the flexible sheet  12  and the fluid repellent strip  28  of the second flap  22 . The size of the fenestration  31  is selected to accommodate the particular surgical procedure being performed. As further depicted in FIG. 6, the size of the fenestration  18  can be further modified by folding the first flap  21  over the top surface  13  into a position selectively covering a portion of the reduced fenestration opening  31  established by the above described manipulation of the second flap  22 . Surrounding the fenestration  33  are portions of the fluid repellent strips  19 ,  26  and  28 . Preferably, the first and second flaps  21 ,  22  are folded over the flexible sheet  12  as shown in transversely related directions so as to provide two-dimensional reduction in the size of the original fenestration  18 . That objective is accommodated by securement of the flaps  21 ,  22  to, respectively, the adjacent edge segments  15 ,  16  of the outer edge  14  of the rectangular flexible sheet  12 .  
     [0025] Another surgical drape embodiment  41  is illustrated in FIGS.  7 - 9 .  
     [0026] Components of the surgical drape  41  identical to those of the surgical drape  11  of FIGS.  1 - 6  bear identical reference numerals. Additional components of the surgical drape  41  include detachable adhesive tabs  42  attached to corner portions of a bottom surface  43  of the flexible sheet  12 . In addition, detachable adhesive strips  46 ,  47  are secured to outer boundary portions of, respectively, the first and second flaps  21  and  22 .  
     [0027] During use of the surgical drape  41  the adhesive tabs  42  are used to secure the sheet  12  over a patient&#39;s body portions surrounding the surgical procedure region. Subsequently, the adhesive strips  46 ,  47  function to secure, respectively, the first and second flaps  21 ,  22  into selective positions partially covering the fenestration  18  as described above.  
     [0028] Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.