Single-patient surgical drapes and gowns help prevent the transmission of infectious agents between patients and clinical staff during surgery

The market for single-patient surgical drapes and gowns in Europe has seen steady growth in the recent past owing to the high standards of infection control enforced by the European Union Medical Devices Directive (MDD) and EU regulations, said a report by Frost & Sullivan.

Increasing awareness on the need for better infection control, particularly with respect to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and hepatitis B, has drawn attention toward providing improved bacterial barriers. Due to their patient protecting properties, drapes and gowns are now considered to be medical devices that have to comply with the MDD specifications.

This has given nonwoven technology a boost. Nonwoven fabrics have excellent liquid resistance, tensile strength and hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties. The use of traditional cotton and cotton-polyester mixed textiles has been decreasing since these fabrics fail to meet the requirements of the new standards. The choice, then, has been reduced to single-patient products and ‘high-tech’ reusable products for most healthcare purchasers.

However, studies show that the microbial penetration resistance of single-patient drapes and gowns is much superior to that of reusable drapes and gowns, both traditional and 'high-tech.'

Based on this, the NHS Supply Chain, that provides customer-focused healthcare products and supply chain services to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), enabling trusts, hospitals and other healthcare organisations to focus on patient care, exclusively recommends a list of approved suppliers for single-use nonwovens surgical drapes and gowns in England.

Another factor in the reusable/disposable dynamics is pricing. Reusable drapes and gowns have a relatively higher initial cost but can be used between 50 and 100 times. Still, they involve other overhead and logistics costs such as sterilization and laundering. Thus, when total costs are considered, the single-patient nonwoven products tend to prove less expensive than the reusable alternatives.

Up to 23% of Patients catch Infections at the Hospital

Swiss-Noso published a report that showed a large number of patients are infected while in hospitals. The report studied 50 establishments across the country in 2004 and highlighted that a national average of 7.2% of people being treated caught new disease while in medical establishments. Certain departments reached much more worrisome numbers; indeed, intensive care units reached 23.5%. Many other studies have shown that proper hygiene protocols could reduce nosocomial infections by 50%. A report from Geneva’s Cantonal hospital showed that up to 43% of doctors did not wash their hands correctly.
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