DETERMINATION OF SURGEON GENERATED GOWN PRESSURES DURING VARIOUS SURGICAL-PROCEDURES IN THE OPERATING ROAM

Background: Patients' blood or other potentially infectious body fluid s frequently pass through surgeons' gowns in the operating room. These fluids are absorbed by the scrub suit and can directly contaminate th e surgeons' skin. Protective barriers remain an important method of ex posure control for many blood-borne pathogens. The efficacy of surgica l gowns in preventing this passage or strikethrough has therefore beco me the focus of much attention. Limited data are available concerning the magnitude and duration of pressure against surgeons' gowns. Method s: A 32-sensor mat placed in the abdominal area was used to obtain pre ssure data for 15 surgeons of both sexes performing 20 procedures. Res ults: The percentage of time any pressure was detected varied from O% during knee reconstruction to 97.4% for excision of a stomach mass. In 16 procedures, more than 87.8% of pressure contacts were 2 N/cm(2) (2 .9 psi or less); in addition, more than 80% of the contacts were 15 se conds or less during 13 of the procedures. No correlation was found be tween the amount of pressure and sex of the surgeon, surgical service, or length of the procedure. Conclusions: Because pressure is related to the type of procedure, gowns should be chosen to afford protection against fluid strikethrough for the pressures and blood loss anticipat ed.