PROLONGED CONTACT WITH BLOOD ALTERS SURGICAL GOWN PERMEABILITY

Introduction: Surgical gowns are designed to prevent or minimize trans mission of blood and pathogens between patients and hospital personnel . During prolonged procedures, a gown will probably be presented with repeated challenges of blood and other liquids. These multiple insults may alter the fabric's permeability to subsequent blood contact. Meth ods: In this study, a pressing-leaning simulator was used to quantify changes in fabric permeability to blood after surgical gowns were prew etted with anticoagulated or coagulating blood. Results: Of the five c ommercially available gowns tested, contact with blood for 1 hr before application of an external pressure increased permeability for two go wns, decreased permeability for two gowns, and did not alter the perme ability of one gown (as compared with test conditions in which the fab rics were not prewetted with blood). These data indicate that at least in some cases prolonged contact with blood increases the amount of bl ood penetration on application of an external pressure, such as may oc cur during a pressing or leaning motion. Conclusion: Because increased fabric permeability results in an increased risk of skin contact with liquid-borne pathogens for gown users, a major criterion in the desig n and selection of a gown should be its ability to resist blood penetr ation for prolonged periods.