Investigations Related to Hydrodynamic Characteristics and Safety Profile of Surgical Gowns

Abstract

Surgical gowns are worn in the operating room to reduce the incidence of nosocomial wound infections in patients and to prevent the exposure of medical personnel to pathogens in blood and other body fluids from the patient. The main purpose of using surgical gowns is to prevent the transfer of microorganisms from surgical team and patient‟s skin to the surgical wound. The present research was focused to minimize the causes of blood borne transmission of micro-organisms in the operation theaters of Pakistan. The study was conducted in three phases. The first phase involves the evaluation of existing surgical gowns on the basis of international standards followed by successive laundering and sterilization processes being carried out in Pakistani hospital, in order to analyze the results under real conditions. This phase of the research work was designed to analyze the current situation regarding the infection transmission in operation theaters of Pakistan. In the second phase, using various fabric materials and construction parameters fabric for surgical gowns was manufactured and laundered and sterilized as for phase one. The textile testing was performed on experimental surgical gowns. The third phase included the wearer trails of existing and experimental surgical gowns. The results indicated that the existed surgical gown showed significant deterioration after successive laundering and sterilization processes whereas the experimental gowns in phase two of the study were less effected by laundering and sterilization processes and showed excellent results. The overall conclusion drawn from present study was that the existing surgical gown fabric is not suitable for surgical gowns and the hospital should switch to the experimental surgical gown fabric.