Steri-Drape–6 Benefits to Using Steri-Drapes During Surgical and Medical Procedures

Using Steri-Drapes during surgical and medical procedures is one of the most effective ways you can prevent surgical site infections. This ensures that your patients get the best possible care in your healthcare facility.

6 Benefits of Using Steri-Drapes During Surgical and Medical Procedures

1. Decreased Risk of Infection – For Both Your Patient and Your Team

2. Absorbent Fabric That Can Soak Up Spatters and Spills

3. Appropriate Steri-Drape Size and Shape to Fit Any Medical or Surgical Procedure

4. Reliable, Secure Adhesive Strips that Keep Steri-Drape Firmly in Place

5. Low-Linting Fabric Material

6. No Fluid Strikethrough – Even Under Pressure

Surgical site infections introduced during surgical and medical procedures bring with them tremendous human and financial costs, occurring in up to 5 percent of patients during a procedure. The comprehensive fallout from surgical site infections can include more than $20,000 per patient to treat. This dramatically lowers patient satisfaction, increases labor associated with care, and increases the likelihood of patient mortality.

As you make purchases for your healthcare practice, you'll want to find the products and tools you need that help to ensure the safety of your patients and your surgical team. Using surgical drapes during clinical procedures is a good place to start. Steri-Drapes, a product manufactured by 3M, can protect patients by decreasing the risk of transferring microbes. This greatly increases the chances for a positive outcome for the patient.

You'll want to make sure to research surgical drapes to ensure that your surgical team uses the best infection prevention available. This protects your patients from contaminants like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other resistant microorganisms during surgical and medical procedures.

At least 80 percent of U.S. hospitals use some type of single-use drape because they perform well in terms of antimicrobial activity, barrier efficacy, safety, and consistency. Though there are many options – both disposable and reusable – for surgical drapes, Steri-Drapes are widely known for their quality and reliability. Let's take a closer look at the benefits Steri-Drapes can bring to your health care team and practice.

1. Decreased Risk of Infection – For Both Your Patient and Your Team

Surgical site infections are likely a danger that your healthcare practice takes very seriously. Approximately 160,000 to 300,000 surgical site infections occur each year. Annual costs associated with treating major healthcare-associated infections can be as much as $9.8 billion in the United States. When you consider that surgical site infections make up as much as 34 percent of that cost, the importance of infection prevention becomes abundantly clear.

Steri-Drapes provide a reliable antimicrobial incise drape that keeps bacteria and other microbes away from the patient's skin and from the skin of your surgical team. This important function dramatically reduces the potential for your surgical site to become contaminated and protects the sterility of the entire surgical environment.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's bloodborne pathogen standard requires this kind of protection during procedures in which blood or any other potentially infectious material has the potential to reach health care providers' clothes, skin, mouth or eyes. In fact, healthcare employers hold responsibility for the reasonable protection of employees, and penalties for a violation are severe.

2. Absorbent Fabric That Can Soak up Spatters and Spills

During a surgical procedure, if the barrier material becomes saturated, your risk of transmitting pathogens rises dramatically. With a Steri-Drape, there's no need to fear spills or spatters during a procedure, as it prevents the penetration of liquids. Because a Steri-Drape is absorbent throughout the entire drape, there's no need to define a typical "critical zone."

3. Appropriate Size and Shape to Fit Any Medical or Surgical Procedure

No matter your team's needs or specialties, Steri-Drape has a multitude of sizing options to protect your patients and your team. Ranging from the smaller 2037 Incise Drape at 11"x 9 3/4" to the large 23"x33" 1051 Incise Drape, your team can find drape sizes to fit any procedure they offer. In addition, you can also order specialized shapes and sizes for procedures specific to obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedic, urology, EENT, cardiovascular/cardiac catheterization or other general surgery needs – including the 9000A Basic Surgical Pack or the 9055 hip surgical drape.

Steri-Drape also makes available specific sterile drapes for thyroid, hand or foot procedures and many supply options for procedures involving the abdominal wall.

4. Adhesive Strips That Keep Steri-Drape in Place

You can depend on Steri-Drapes to be secure and adhesive. In order for your surgical drape to be most effective, it must be securely adhered to the patient's skin – particularly around suture and wound edges. In fact, if an adhesive strip lifts or a Steri-Drape becomes loose during a procedure, clinical study shows that the increase in contamination risk rises six-fold. Strong and reliable adhesive strips keep your Steri-Drape securely in place.

5. Low-Linting Fabric Material

Steri-Drapes use a special fabric material which is lightweight, lint-free, soft and non-irritating. Surgical drape fabric must resist tears, abrasions, fiber strains, and punctures while maintaining durability and providing maximum protection. If lint or other fibers inadvertently enter a surgical wound, they can cause major health complications for your patients. To effectively protect your patients, surgical drapes must be low-linting.

Dangers associated with the introduction of lint into a surgical site include amplified inflammation; increased likelihood and severity of infections; blood clot formation; development of granuloma; poor-quality wound healing; adhesions and band formation. Beyond the dangers associated with the lint itself, lint and other fibers also could transport other airborne substances, such as microbes, into the surgical wound.

With Steri-Drape, you can breathe easy knowing you are greatly limiting the chances of lint causing issues for your patients.

6. No Fluid Strikethrough – Even Under Pressure

Impermeability to moisture serves the double purpose of protecting your patients and your surgical team. Moisture control is a key consideration when choosing a surgical drape. The dependability of the Steri-Drape fabric also helps ensure that your team is in full compliance with all contaminant-related professional guidelines and federal regulations. This is a key consideration since blood and body fluids are the primary agents of many infections, including HIV and Hepatitis B.

Steri-Drape Best Use Instructions

Using evidence-based practices to reduce the chances for infection and cross-contamination is imperative for the success of your healthcare practice. In support of reducing patient vulnerability to surgical site infections, Steri-Drapes can be used for almost any surgical or medical procedure. Of course, for the best possible results, your team should use Steri-Drapes in full accordance with the manufacturer's written instructions and guidelines.

Guiding Principles

The following six principles should be considered when using Steri-Drapes during surgical or medical procedures:

1. Isolation – Make sure contaminated areas are clearly separated from clean, sterilized areas. Never unfold the Steri-Drapes until it is inside the sterilized area, and it should be held above waist-level at all times. In addition, used Steri-Drapes should be properly contained at the conclusion of each medical or surgical procedure before disposal.

2. Barrier – Ensure there is no fluid penetration. It goes without saying that Steri-Drapes should be free of tears, holes, and punctures of any size or type. Preventing strike-through contamination dramatically limits the chances for surgical site infection.

3. Sterile Field – Guarantee a sterile operating environment by only introducing sterile materials. Sterile drapes and other materials must be used inside the sterile field. Once a Steri-Drape is in position, it shouldn't be moved. Your team should inspect all drapes for integrity and handle them as little as possible – no shaking, flipping or fanning. The lower portion of the Steri-Drape that falls below the sterile area should never be lifted back into the sterile field.

4. Sterile Surface – Create and maintain a sterile skin surface to create an effective barrier blocking skin flora from the incision site. As a supporting measure, you'll also want to provide your team with appropriate skin antiseptics. If the sterility of a Steri-Drape is ever called into question, consider it contaminated and dispose of it immediately.

5. Fluid Control – Channel and collect all irrigation and body fluids. You'll want to carefully consider your anticipated amount of irrigation fluid during procedures, expected blood loss, procedure duration, and your surgical team's preference when choosing the right surgical drapes for a particular procedure.

6. Equipment Draping – Appropriately block any non-sterile equipment, such as surgical instrument stands, brought into the sterile surgical area. When doing so, your team should never shake a Steri-Drape – shaking may cause it to inadvertently come into contact with an unsterile surface.

General Guidelines

Typically, a Steri-Drape should be cuffed over a team member's gloved hand while putting in place, and draping should advance from the operative side to the periphery. Additional draping material may be needed for procedures on the extremities. Your scrubbed team member should walk around the operating room surface to drape the opposite side in order to keep from leaning into the sterile field and risking contamination. As a general rule, any incorrectly placed Steri-Drape should be removed and disposed of immediately. A Steri-Drape should also be disposed of if it falls below the waist of a scrubbed team member, as this would be considered contamination.

Of course, also keep in mind that everyone on your surgical team should participate in both developing and implementing draping policies and procedures that make the best sense for your healthcare facility. You'll want to make sure that each member of your surgical team is thoroughly trained and comfortable with your draping procedures and protocols. In addition, having your surgical team involved in testing and evaluating various samples of surgical drapes can help ensure that you stock your healthcare facility with the draping options that are the most appropriate for your surgical team.

Effective Infection Prevention with Steri-Drapes

Effective containment of pathogens during a clinical procedure is a must within today's healthcare environment. Safety, cost, infection prevention, environmental issues, and barrier effectiveness are all hot topics that help drive your surgical and medical procedure purchasing decisions. With continued knowledge of the dangers of blood borne pathogens, plus OSHA-enforced surgical site infection (SSI) guidelines and regulations, responsible and effective health care practices require antimicrobial draping that prevents cross-contamination as effectively as possible.

Steri-Drapes are one of your best choices for providing reliable and consistent quality, positive outcomes and outstanding barrier efficacy for both your healthcare staff and your patients. After all, safety issues related to the protection of your surgical team and your patients are paramount, and you need to keep your SSI rate as low as possible.

Steri-Drapes are manufactured by 3M Health Care. 3M Health Care is part of the 3M corporation. 3M Health Care produces a wide range of medical and surgical supplies ranging from the widely populate Littmann stethoscopes, surgical masks, Ioban incise drapes , surgical clippers , Attest sterilization products, Tegaderm wound care products and more.

If you're still researching your options and would like some help, the team at USA Medical and Surgical Supplies has decades of experience researching and recommending medical supplies and equipment. Please contact us if you have any questions about the right equipment or supplies for your healthcare facility. We can offer guidance on everything from antiseptic skin cleansers, vital signs monitors, to surgical lights . Our goal is to provide top quality medical supplies and equipment at low prices. We leverage technology and streamline our operations to provide the best value for our customers. Call us today at 1-866-561-2380 or e-mail us on our Contact form.