MXPA00007303A - Surgical drape with attachable fluid collection pouch - Google Patents

Abstract

A surgical drape and an attachable fluid collection pouch is provided wherein the surgical drape exhibits a plurality of landing zones suitable for adhesively mounting the fluid collection pouch.

Description

SURGICAL COVER WITH SUBJECTABLE FLUID COLLECTION BAG FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to covers for covering the body of a patient when undergoing an operation or other medical procedure. More specifically, the present invention relates to surgical covers that have a sealable fluid collection bag for receiving body fluids expelled from the body during various surgical procedures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The covers are used during surgical procedures, in part, to provide a sterile field around the surgical site and during other treatment procedures that require the maintenance of a sterile environment. When used during surgery, covers prevent blood and other body fluids from crossing the contaminated field.

There are a variety of surgical covers, but most share several common characteristics. The surgical covers will have one or more openings or perforations (more commonly known in the medical field as "windows") through which the surgical procedure is carried out. Most covers are made of a water-repellent or water-impermeable material, or are coated with such material to prevent the passage of body fluids as well as the passage of contaminating microorganisms. Many of the current surgical covers are made of disposable non-woven fabrics, plastic films or paper.

An adhesive material is usually attached to the periphery of the cover material defining the window or the windows so that the cover can be held in place around the surgical site and so that the blood will not pass between the cover and the body of the patient. patient. The combination of the cover itself and the adhesive material around the perimeter of the opening ensures a barrier between the surgical wound and the rest of the body.

During surgical procedures, fairly large amounts of body fluids or irrigation fluids are emitted from the operating site with windows. If such fluids are allowed to spread on the floor of the surgical room, potentially dangerous slip situations could occur. In addition, the failure to control draifluids during surgery could interfere with the sterile field that is required to be maintaiduring the procedure.

Various means have been developed to absorb, retain and / or collect such fluids. Initial surgical procedures often involve the use of absorbent towels to square the site of operation. These towels will act in turn to absorb fluids. Gradually, the designs were improved to include the absorbent materials constructed within the cover itself, including such materials as the foam located around the window. When large amounts of fluid were being used or emitted from the incision area, bags and other types of drainage devices were used to channel, collect or drain fluids out of the operation site. Examples of such systems can be found in the neurological, obstetric (in section c) and orthopedic (arthroscopy) covers.

Currently, both disposable non-woven surgical covers as well as reusable woven are used to create the sterile field for operating procedures. Such covers employ a primary base sheet in conjunction with a smaller sheet, or a pad, which is often made of an absorbent material backed by a liquid impervious film. When used, the reinforcing absorbent pad is superimposed on the larger base sheet and is often connected to it with an adhesive. Both the base sheet and the smaller pad have one more corresponding openings which define the surgical site. An example of such a surgical cover with a reinforcing absorbent pad is shown in the patent of the United States of America no. 3,902,484 awarded to Winters. If desigcorrectly, the absorbent area of a surgical cover facilitates cleaning and movement of the patient after the operating procedure.

Several surgical covers have been developed which employ either an integral or attachable bag near the window or the windows to collect drained fluids used or emitted during surgery. For example, the patent of the United States of America does not. 3,791,382 awarded to Collins shows a useful cover for abdominal surgery where the bags are mounted on either side of the incision area. The patent of the United States of America no. 4,089,331 issued to Hartiqan and others employs a cover with certain folded back pieces that form pouches near the cover window. These bags are formed on the cover to retain the drained fluid emanating from the incision site. Patents of the United States of America us. 3,364,928, 4,078,017 and 4,570,628 granted to Creager, Jr. and others, to Haswell and Neal, respectively, show the use of various devices or fluid collection covers employed to perform various vaginal procedures. The collection devices described in these patents are typically plastic bag type structures that are either integrally formed or are formed and separately attached to the upper surface portion of the surgical cover. The patent of the United States of America no. 5,464,024 issued to Mills et al. Illustrates another form of a collection bag which, in some embodiments, is formed on the upper area of the surgical cover so as to completely surround the window and the incision site.

Finally, the patent of the United States of America does not. 5,618,278 issued to Rothrum, is illustrative of a surgical cover employing a clippable fluid collection bag. As shown in the figures of this patent, a collection bag with adhesive fastening means is provided to be mounted on the upper surface of a surgical cover near the window. The plastic bag has adhesive mounting strips located on its back surface which, when the strips of release material covering the adhesive areas are removed, allow the bag to be adhered to the fabric-type upper surface of the surgical cover .

Problems with the adhesive fasteners between the plastic fluid collection bags and the top surface of the surgical covers are sometimes encountered when employing such attachable collection bag devices. As described above, large amounts of fluids can be used near or emitted from the surgical incision site. Frequently, the fluids will come into contact with the adhesive interconnect between the fluid collection bag and the cloth-type absorbent top surface of the surgical cover (generally, the collection bags will actually be mounted on the absorbent reinforcement pads that are mounted on the largest main panel of the surgical cover). When this occurs, the adhesive bond between the bag and the cloth-like surface tends to weaken and sometimes can still fail. Obviously, as the collection bag becomes heavier because it is filled with liquids, more resistance is required in the adhesive interface. If it fails completely, there is the potential for the bag to disconnect from the cover and spill on the operation floor or otherwise destroy the sterile field.

Therefore, there is still a need for additional improved surgical cover designs that employ the fastable fluid collection bags. More specifically, there is a need to improve the adhesive interconnection between such bags and the surgical cover.

S NTESIS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved surgical cover for use in surgical procedures.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved surgical cover with a sealable fluid collection bag.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a more substantial adhesive protection between the clamped fluid collection bag. and the surface of the surgical cover to which it is attached.

These and other objects are achieved by providing a surgical cover and a sealable fluid collection bag wherein the surgical cover has a plurality of positioning areas suitable for adhesively mounting the fluid collection bag. Specifically, the cover includes a main panel base sheet defining one or more windows where the surgical incisions will occur for the particular operation. An adhesive area surrounds the window and is located on the side of the base sheet that is brought into contact with the patient's body. When in place, the pressure sensitive adhesive holds the cover in place and forms a closed area between the patient's body and the base sheet to prevent fluids at the operating site from running under the cover .

A smaller, stronger absorbent pad with a liquid-impermeable backing can be overlapped on the upper surface of the main panel base sheet. The pad has windows through which the windows in the base sheet are matched. The pad can be adhered to the base sheet and provide a fluid absorbing sheet to absorb fluids near the operation site. Both the main panel and the absorbent reinforcement panel have a cut that runs from their windows to one edge of each sheet.

The aforementioned positioning areas for securing a fluid collection bag are formed by using the back side, usually impermeable to liquid, the backing on the smaller absorbent reinforcement pad. These areas of placement are formed by using windows in various forms, such as a diamond shape. In the particular diamond shape shown in the figures, a window in the smaller absorbent pad is formed by cutting the diamond into segments and not cutting along each edge of the diamond segments, but instead from this merely drill certain segment edges. The perforated segment edges are then used as bending lines to bend back certain diamond segments so that the liquid-impermeable backing is exposed on the upper surface of the surgical cover. These segments can then be glued, boiled or otherwise secured to the upper surface of the absorbent panel and / or the main panel base sheet. The collection bag is then adhesively mounted on the exposed, plastic-coated back sides of the return window folding segments to achieve a superior quality adhesive bond than is normally achieved between the bag and the cloth-type absorbent pad. or main panel.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the surgical cover is specifically designed to be used during shoulder surgery carried out while a patient is in the bench seat or in a modified Fowler position. It will be appreciated, however, that the cover can be formed in several other ways and can be used for several other methods.

Other objects, features and aspects of the present invention are discussed in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A complete and enabling description of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, for one with ordinary skill in the art is more particularly set forth in the remainder of the description, including reference to the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 is a top view of a cover. Surgical showing the main panel base sheet and the smaller reinforcement panel according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a view of the back side of the surgical cover of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a top view of the main panel base sheet of the surgical cover of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a top view of the smaller reinforcing panel of the surgical cover of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a top view of the window part to be cut in the smaller reinforcement panel of Figure 4 illustrating the cuts to be made on the panel to obtain the window for a particular embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 is a top view of the section of part of the window of Figure 5 indicating the return bending of several segments according to the present invention; Figure 7 is a top view of the surgical cover of Figure 1 illustrating an embodiment of the fluid collection bag attached to the positioning areas on a smaller reinforcing panel; Figure 8 is a top view of the lower surface panel of an embodiment of the sealable fluid collection bag of Figure 7; Figure 9 is a top view of the top surface panel of an embodiment of the sealable fluid collection bag of Figure 7; Figure 10 is a top view of the fluid collection bag of Figure 7; FIGS. 11 and 11b illustrate several measurements suitable for the incorporations of the windows useful in the present invention.

The repeated use of the reference characters in the present description and in the drawings is intended to represent the same analogous elements or features of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED INCORPORATION It should be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the present discussion is about a description of embodiments of examples only, and is not intended to limit the broader aspects of the present invention, the broader aspects of which are involved in the invention. example construction.

Referring now to Figure 7, the surgical cover 10 of the present invention is illustrated. Surgical cover 10 includes a main panel base sheet 12, a smaller absorbent reinforcement panel 14, a fluid collection bag 200, and several optional tube strips 330. Although it may have varying dimensions and shapes, the cover 10 is normally rectangular and is sized to cover at least a majority of the patient's body during a surgical procedure. The surgical cover 10 includes one or more openings, or windows, 50 and 52 that provide the surgeon with an access to an operative site in a patient. The various parts of the surgical cover system will now be described in detail.

As shown in Figure 1, the cover 10 is composed of two sheet materials-a base sheet or large main panel 12 of a nonabsorbent nonwoven fabric and a smaller reinforcing pad or panel 14 superimposed on and preferably fixed in some manner on the upper surface 22 of a main panel base sheet 12. The reinforcing pad 14 is preferably constructed of a material which has an absorbent upper surface 24 for absorbing the fluids near the operating site. The reinforcing pad 14 also provides greater resistance to penetration of instruments placed on top of the cover during surgery.

The reinforcing pad 14 is normally made of a fluid absorbing material backed by a layer of fluid impermeable or fluid repellent film (not shown). The side of the film layer of the pad 14 is secured to the upper surface 22 of the main panel base sheet 12 by an adhesive. It should be understood that various other fastening means, such as fired seams, can also be employed to effect this fastening. The absorbent upper surface that absorbs the fluid 24 from the pad 14 remains exposed and available to absorb the fluids emitted from the surgical wound.

Preferably, the lower surface 19 of the base sheet main panel 12 has an adhesive material that closes the window 50 in the main panel base sheet 12 and in the window 52 in the pad 14. The adhesive carried on the lower surface 19 of the main panel base sheet 12 which will be close to the patient's body allows the window 50 to be secured around the operation site. The sticky and pressure sensitive adhesives used can be any biologically acceptable adhesive. Examples of such adhesive materials are described in the. United States of America no. No. 3,669,106 entitled "Surgical cover with adhesive fastening means" issued to Schrading et al. Which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The adhesive worn on the lower surface 19 of the pad 14 adheres the cover 10 to the patient's body when the cover is in use to provide a seal around the surgical incision site.

To prevent the adhesive surface of the lower surface 19 from sticking to itself or other parts of the cover 10 before use, a number of releasable and removable strips of material 29, such as a silicone or wax coated paper, can placed on the lower surface 19 of the base sheet 12 until the cover is ready for use. In use, the releasable cover sheet is removed and the cover is unfolded on the patient so that the lower surface 19 of the base sheet 12 having the adhesive material is presented to the patient's body. Once unfolded, the part of the base sheet 12 that extends around the edge of the window 50 is pressed on the skin of the patient to create a closed area around the surgical incision site. In addition, the adhesive carried along the peripheries of the back side of the cut 60 through the base sheet 12 can be used to fold the cover tightly around the body of the patient as illustrated in Figure 7 (without being shown a patient) . This is especially important when the cover is used during shoulder surgery and the patient's arm and shoulder extend through the window 50.

The strips of release material 29 may have written placement instructions on the lower surface opposite the outer surface 19. Such instructions will usually indicate how the cover should be placed on the patient. For example, the strips of release material may have the "head" with an arrow indicating that the cover is to be placed in the direction of the arrow toward the patient's head.

The large main panel base sheet 12 may be approximately 100 inches by 172 inches with an upper surface 22 and a lower surface 19, two opposite ends 40 and 42, and two opposite sides 44 and 46. The windows or openings 50 and 52 are cut through the large main panel base sheet 12 and the smaller absorbent reinforcing panel 14. In a particular arrangement as shown in the fastener A the window 50 is diamond-shaped. However, it is contemplated that the window can have several other forms, particularly when the surgical cover is to be used for purposes other than a patient placed e? a bench chair In the incorporation of diamond-shaped windows, the window 50 can be located at the mid-point end-to-end of the main panel 12 and frequently and approximately 14 inches from the mid-point from side to side of the main panel 12. The long point diamond shape window 50 points to the nearer side 44 of the main panel 12. The main panel 12 is cut from the side 44 to the long point of the diamond shape window 50 so as to connect the window 50 to the nearest side 44 of the main panel 12. Cut 60 is generally perpendicular to sides 44 and 46 of main panel 12.

As shown in Figure 4, the absorbent reinforcement panel 14 can be approximately 30 inches by 48 inches. The window 52 in the panel 14 matches the window 50 in the main panel 12. The absorbent panel 14 also includes a cut 70 which generally hunts with the cut 60 along a partial length.

The window 52 in the absorbent reinforcing panel 14 is positioned at the midpoint end to end of the absorbent reinforcing panel and is offset about 7 inches from the mid-point side to side of the absorbent reinforcement panel. Unlike the completely cut window 50 of the main panel 12, the window 52 of the absorbent reinforcement panel 14 is perforated along portions of the perimeter of the window and the interior area is cut into segments as shown in Figure 5. As shown in FIG. shown in Figures 5 and 6, the segment 80 is completely cut from the window 52 and is removed. However, the segments 81, 82, 83 and 84 are merely perforated on their edges 91, 92, 93 and 94 which define the periphery of the window 50. The segments 81, 82, 83 and 84 are cut one by one from the other. along the cut lines 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 and 100. The segments 81, 82, 83 and 84 are bent back along the perforation lines 91, 92, 93 and 94 as for defining the majority of the periphery of the window 52. When these panels are bent along the identified perforation lines, they are then glued in place on the upper surface 24 of the reinforcement panel 14. When these segments or panels are bent and glued to the upper surface 24 in such a manner the backing of the liquid-impermeable film side of the absorbent reinforcing panel 14 is exposed around a portion of the periphery of the window 50 to form the surfaces of the rear side, or placement "110, 111, 112 and 11 3.

The back side surfaces 110-113 of the segments 81, 82, 83 and 84 are used as the clamping surfaces for adhesively holding the fluid collection bag. The use of the liquid-impermeable backing as attachment areas for the adhesive attachment of the fluid collection bag 200 (shown in Figures 7 and 10) overcomes the problems frequently encountered with currently available fluid collection bag holds. In particular, the adhesion qualities of the previously available fluid collection bags would be diminished when the moisture encounters the adhesive attachment interconnection. A plastic / adhesive / liquid impervious fitting formed by the bottom side of the bottom surface 212 of the collection bag 200 held through a layer of adhesive to the backing impermeable to liquid or backside surfaces 110-113 to remain intact even when subjected to fluid attack.

The fluid collection bag 200 is generally made of a liquid impervious material, such as a clear plastic polyethylene or the like. The fluid collection bag 200 has an adhesive applied for securing the bag to the rear side panels 110-113. The adhesive parts before clamping to the cover are covered by strips of release material 300 to prevent degradation of the adhesive.

Figure 9 shows the upper panel 210 which is attached to the lower surface 202 to form the collection shape 200. A malleable wire 215 is carried on the upper periphery of the upper panel 210 so that the collection bag 200 can be stopped at an open position to allow the collection of fluid runoff. The complete collection bag 200 is shown in Figure 10. A drain 220 may be provided at the lowest point of the bag 200 to allow the fluid to be drained from the bag 200 during use to prevent overflow.

During use the cover 10 is placed on the patient with the arm and shoulder protruding from the window 50. The cover is then folded over itself along the cuts 60 and 70 to tightly form the sterile field. The release strips 300 are then removed from the adhesive on the lower surface 202 of the fluid collection bag 200 and the fluid collection bag 200 is then placed in position in contact with the rear sides 110-113. This will allow the attachment of the fluid collection bag 200 in a suitable position so that the patient's expanded fluids during surgery can be collected instead of spilled on the floor of the operating room.

In addition, as shown in Figures 1-7, the particular shoulder cover proposed by Kimberly-Clark has the hook and loop shapes mounted on two adjacent corners of the reinforcement panel 14. These hook and loop straps 330 provide anchoring suitable for surgical lines and suction tubing. The strips 330 allow adequate securing of such tubing and of the surgical tubing so that they do not interfere with the surgical procedures being performed on the patient.

In a particular embodiment, the main panel 12 is composed of a laminate of polypropylene, non-woven bonded with spin-blow with fusion-bonded with spinning (SMS) that is thermally bonded with a wire-fabric binding pattern. The laminate normally has a basis weight of 1. 95 ounces per square yard (osy) but can vary anywhere from about 1.5 ounces per square yard to about 2.7 ounces per square yard. The main panel 12 will generally be treated topically for anti-corrosion, as well as treated for alcohol repellency.

The absorbent reinforcement panel 14 is typically a melt blown and meltblown (SMS) laminate composed of nonwoven layers meltblown and bonded with polypropylene yarn and a polyethylene-polypropylene copolymer film. The layers can be ultrasonically joined together. Laminated melt blown spunbonded components can be treated with various treatments such as Gemtex SM33 to provide a wettable and absorbent structure. The basis weight of the absorbent reinforcement panel 14 can be nominally 3.65 ounces per square yard, with a range of about 3 ounces per square yard to about 3.7 ounces per square yard typically being adequate.

The fluid collection bag 200 can be formed of any liquid impervious material, such as various kinds of transparent plastics. The bag may be opaque but this is generally clear, to provide an indication of the amount and type of fluid that is being drained into the bag during surgery. This is generally symmetrical from side to side. A bag opening is formed by fastening a smaller front panel 210 to a larger rear panel or bottom 202 along four adjacent edges. The upper edges are not fastened. The unsupported upper edges of the front panel 210 are reinforced with a malleable wire 215 and form the upper front boundaries of the bag opening. The unclamped edges of the larger rear part 202 form the rear splash of the bag 200. Four strips of adhesive, as previously described, are applied to the back side of the bag along and to one side of the upper edges of the panel rear 202. The adhesive, as described above, is protected by the release paper strips 330 until it is discovered for use.

The fluid collection bag 200 is constructed of a fluid impervious material. Examples of fluid impervious materials include materials, of plastic sheet of polymers such as acetate, ethylene vinylacetate (EVA), rayon, triacetate, acrylic, aramid, nylon, olefin, for example poly (1-butene), polycarbonate, polyethylene, polyester, poly (3-methyl) 1-butene), poly (1-pentene), polypropylene, and polystyrene, polysulfone, polytetrafluoroethylene, poly (alcoholvinyl), poly (vinyl chloride), poly (vinylidene fluoride), natural rubber, polyisoprene, polybutadiene, dieneostyrene copolymers, ethylene propylene copolymers, ethylene propylene diene terpolymers, styrene butadiene block copolymers, styrene and suprene block copolymers, and polyurethane.

Preferred fluid impervious materials may be heat-curable (eg to allow two sheets to be sonically bonded posteriorly to provide a fluid impervious seal) and sterilizable (eg capable of withstanding temperatures, radiation and gases). used during the sterilization process which include temperatures in excess of 60 ° C for sterilization of ethylene oxide, temperatures in the range from 120 ° to 135 ° C for foam sterilization).

The fluid collection bag 200 can, in one embodiment, be made of a 3 mil polyethylene plastic that is assembled using the thermal bond. The reinforcing wire 215 may be malleable, covered with plastic, with a self-adhesive backing. The fastening adhesive in a particular embodiment can be # 1509K obtained from 3-M Medical Company of San Paul, Minnesota.

Other features may be added to the present invention and still fall within its scope. For example, several retention compartments such as those shown in the United States of America patent no. 5,074,316 issued to Dowdv as well as the non-slip instrument pads such as those described in the patent of the United States of America no. 3,856,006 awarded Krzewinski can be used. Other characteristics of the covers that can be used according to the present invention are described in the patent of the United States of America no. 4,869,271 granted to Idris which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.

The cover 10 may be disposable or reusable. Preferably it is disposable. If it is disposable, a cover that can be used for this purpose is described in the patent of the United States of America no. 3,902,484 entitled "Disposable Surgical Cover" granted to Winters, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety. As described herein, the upper surface 22 of the base sheet 12 of the present invention will have the fluid impermeable layer or the film carried on the underside of the pad 14 attached thereto. This bending can be any suitable means such as an adhesive. The film layer on the back side of the reinforcing pad 14 provides a fluid impervious barrier in the primary operating area so that any fluids making contact with this area can not stick through the pad. The absorbency of the remainder of the pad 14, including its upper surface 24 allows some of the drained fluid to be absorbed while the liquid impermeable film layer on the back side of the reinforcing pad 14 prevents the passage of fluid to the base sheet 12. In certain embodiments, a pad with a relatively high coefficient of friction on the upper surface can provide an essentially non-slippery surface which decreases the chance of an accidental fall of surgical instruments and the like placed on the absorbent top surface 24 of the pad during surgery.

The non-woven fabric from which such base sheets are made should normally be relatively soft and must have a good drop and fold characteristics. Additionally, the non-woven fabric must be capable of being subjected to a sterilization treatment without being adversely affected. The use of non-woven fabrics for disposable covers eliminates washing, resterilization and handling costs associated with linen covers.

The selection of the non-woven fabric that has the qualities mentioned above is within the skill of those who work in this art. Materials such as those used in the manufacture of disposable surgical covers which are usually treated with a water repellent finish and which can still be treated with a fire retardant composition, are applicable to the present invention.

Examples of such suitable liquid repellent and disposable fabrics for making the base sheet include non-woven fabrics bonded with spinning and meltblowing sold by Kimberly-Clark Corporation under the trademark TELA EVOLUTION® described for example in the the United States of America no. 4,041,203 entitled "Nonwoven thermoplastic fabric" issued to Brock et al. And the canvas reinforced tissue products described for example in the United States of America patent no. 3,072,511 entitled "Laminated sheet material" granted to Harwood. Other examples of non-woven fabrics are described in the patents of the United States of America. 3,484,330 entitled "Disposable fabric" issued to Sokolowski et al., 5,482,765 entitled "Nonwoven fabric laminate with increased barrier properties" given to Bradley et al., And 5,151,321 entitled "Method for making a non-woven, conductive, water repellent fabric and / or or to the alcohol and resulting product "granted to Reeves and others. All of the five of these patents are incorporated herein by reference.

As for the reinforcing absorbent pad 14, various materials may also be used. The smallest reinforcing pad 14 can be a film / foam laminate of the type described in the patents of the United States of America. 3,699,106 entitled "Surgical cover with adhesive fastening means" granted to Schradincr and 3,668,050 entitled "Surgical cover" granted to Donnelly. A particularly acceptable pad for this use is described in the patent of the United States of America no. 5,540,979. entitled "Absorbent structure of oxalate-blood porous non-woven coil" granted to Yahiaoui et al. All of these three patents are incorporated herein by reference. Another acceptable pad is made of a meltblown and spin-bonded material sold under the name CONTROL PLUS® from Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

The film layer on the back side of the pad 14 can be an antistatic polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene methylacrylate copolymer or vinyl chloride films. The film provides the fluid impervious barrier described on the top of the operative area of the base sheet 12 so that any liquid contacting the pad 14 will not pass through the base sheet 12. In addition, the chosen film it will also provide the upper surface of the positioning areas for securing the fluid collection bag of the present invention as described herein. The absorbent material of the fluid can be attached to the film layer by any suitable means such as adhesive bonding, melting or by extruding the film directly. Examples of suitable absorbent materials include polyester and polyether polyurethane foams with thicknesses in any range from about 25 mils to about 100 mils.

Although the preferred embodiments of this invention have been described using specific terms, devices and methods, such a description is for illustrative purposes only. The words used are words of description rather than delimitation. It should be understood that changes and variations may be made by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention, which is set forth in the following claims. In addition, it should be understood that the aspects of the various incorporations can be exchanged in whole or in part.

Claims (27)

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N S

1. A surgical cover to cover a patient during a surgical procedure, said cover comprises: a) a base sheet having a surface and a lower surface, said base sheet defining a window through which the surgical procedure will be carried out when said cover is covering a patient during a surgical procedure; b) an absorbent reinforcing pad having an absorbent top surface and a liquid repellent bottom surface, said absorbent reinforcement pad is superimposed on said base sheet and has its liquid repellent bottom surface mounted on the top surface of said sheet base, said absorbent reinforcing pad defines a window and which, when said pad is mounted on the base sheet, forms an opening through said base sheet and said reinforcing pad through which surgical procedures can be performed. , c) wherein the reinforcing pad has a positioning zone to allow a fluid collection device to be placed on said absorbent upper surface of said reinforcing pad to collect and retain the exuded fluids near the opening during the surgical procedures, said The positioning zone is formed of a material that will allow the adhesive attachment of said fluid collection device to said area of placement in an adhesive interface that will not fail during the surgical procedures when the fluids are exuded near said opening and collected in said device. of fluid collection.

.2. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 characterized in that said base sheet defines a cut therein that extends from the window to one edge of said base sheet and wherein the reinforcing pad defines a cut therein extending from said windowing on one edge of said reinforcing pad, said reinforcing pad being further superimposed on said base sheet so that said cutting on said base sheet and said cut on said reinforcing pad hunt along a portion of its lengths.

3. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 characterized in that said base sheet further comprises an adhesive area surrounding said base sheet window over said lower surface of said base sheet so that said base sheet can be adhesively bonded to said patient during a surgical procedure.

4. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 2 characterized in that said base sheet comprises an adhesive area surrounding said cut base sheet on said bottom surface of said base sheet so that the base sheet can also be adhesively bonded to said patient during a surgical procedure.

5. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 3 characterized in that said base sheet comprises an additional adhesive area surrounding said base sheet cut on said bottom surface of said base sheet.

6. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 characterized in that said positioning zone comprises a part of the liquid-repellent lower surface of said reinforcing pad whose part has been exposed by being folded back during the formation of the pad window of reinforcement.

7. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 characterized in that said liquid repellent bottom surface of said reinforcing pad is adhesively mounted on the upper surface of said base sheet.

8. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 characterized in that said liquid repellent bottom surface of said reinforcing pad is fired to said top surface of said base sheet.

9. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1, characterized in that it comprises a fluid collection device mounted on said absorbent reinforcing pad by being adhesively fastened to said positioning zone.

10. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 characterized in that said fluid collection device is made of a material impervious to liquid.

11. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 10 characterized in that said fluid collection device is a bag having a liquid impermeable back panel and a liquid impermeable front panel, said liquid impermeable front panel having malleable wire strips carried in the upper periphery thereof to allow the front panel to be maintained in an open position.

12. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 10 characterized in that said fluid collection device is a bag having a liquid impermeable back panel and a liquid impermeable front panel, said liquid impermeable front panel having drainage therein. to allow the fluid to be drained from said bag during the surgical procedure to avoid overflow.

13. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 further characterized in that it comprises anchors to maintain the surgical lines and the suction tube in place during the surgical procedures.

14. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 13 characterized in that said anchors comprise hook and loop straps that are mounted in two adjacent corners of said absorbent reinforcing pad.

15. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 characterized in that said base sheet comprises a non-woven laminate bonded with melt-blown spin-bond with polypropylene yarn.

16. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 15 characterized in that said laminate has a basis weight of between about 1.5 ounces per square yard and about 2.7 ounces per square yard.

17. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 characterized in that said absorbent reinforcing pad comprises a meltblown film-bonded laminate.

18. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 17 characterized in that said absorbent reinforcement pad has a basis weight of between about 3 ounces per square yard to about 3.7 ounces per square yard.

19. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 1 characterized by said surgical cover is formed to allow surgical procedures to be carried out on the shoulder of a patient.

20. A surgical cover to cover a patient during a surgical procedure, said cover comprises. a) a base sheet having an upper surface and a lower surface, said base sheet defining a base sheet window there through which said surgical procedure is to be carried out when said cover is covering said patient during a surgical procedure, said base sheet has a base sheet cut and extending from said window to one edge of said base sheet, said base sheet has adhesive areas surrounding said base sheet window and said base sheet cut for adhesively attaching the base sheet to a patient during a surgical procedure; b) an absorbent reinforcement pad having an absorbent top surface and a liquid repellent bottom surface, said absorbent reinforcement pad is superimposed on said base sheet and has its liquid repellent bottom surface mounted on the top surface of said sheet base, said absorbent reinforcing pad defines a window which when said pad is mounted on said base sheet, creates an opening through said base sheet and said reinforcing pad through which the surgical procedures can be carried out, said reinforcing pad having a cut therein extending from said window to one edge of said pad of reinforcement, said reinforcing pad being further superimposed on said base sheet to then cut on said base sheet and said cut on said reinforcing pad hunt along a portion of its lengths; c) wherein said reinforcing pad has a positioning zone to allow a fluid collection device to be placed on said absorbent upper surface of said reinforcing pad to collect and retain exuding fluids near said opening during the surgical procedures , said area of placement is formed of a material that will allow the adhesive attachment of said fluid collection device to said area of placement in an adhesive interface, said area of positioning comprises a part of said liquid-repellent lower surface of said surface. reinforcement which has been exposed by being folded back during the formation of said reinforcing pad window; d) a fluid collection device positioned above and adhesively attached to said absorbent reinforcement pad in said positioning zone to provide a bag for collection of the exuded fluids near. said opening.

21. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 20 characterized in that said fluid collection device is a bag having a liquid impermeable back panel and a liquid impervious front panel, said liquid impermeable front panel having malleable wire strips carried on the outer periphery thereof to allow the front panel to be held in an open position.

22. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 20 characterized in that said fluid collection device is a bag having a liquid impermeable back panel and a liquid impermeable front panel, said liquid impermeable front panel having a drainage on the same to allow the fluid to be drained from said bag during the surgical procedure to prevent overflow.

23. the surgical cover as claimed in clause 20 further characterized in that it comprises anchors to keep surgical lines and suction lines in place during surgical procedures.

24. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 23 characterized in that said anchors comprise hook and loop straps that are mounted in two adjacent corners of said absorbent reinforcing pad.

25. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 20 characterized in that said base sheet comprises a non-woven laminate bonded with melt-bonded spin-bond with polypropylene yarn.

26. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 20 characterized in that said absorbent reinforcing pad comprises a melt-bonded film-blown laminate with spinning.

27. The surgical cover as claimed in clause 20 characterized by said surgical cover is shaped to allow surgical procedures to be carried out on the shoulder of a patient. E U M E N A surgical cover and a removable fluid collection bag are provided wherein the surgical cover exhibits a plurality of suitable positioning areas for adhesively mounting the fluid collection bag.