US2477403A - Surgical bandage - Google Patents

Description

July 26, 1949.

D. R. BRADY SURGICAL BANDAGE Filed Nov. 24, 1944 INVENTOI Q. .ZZAVJD F. BRADY Patented July 26, 1949 David R. Brady, Detroit, Mich, wassignor :to

0wens+Coming aFiherglas' 'florporation a coryporation of Delaware Application November 24, 1944, "Serial N 095643386 My invention relates :to H surgical ibandages, dressings, wound :packs, and the like.

It i-is anobiectof "the invention to provide substantially non-absorbent surgical bandages of non-toxic material. The non-absorbent mature of thew-bandages raids inthe healing of wounds, burns and ulcerated conditions :since it does not disturb or remove irom the injured-surface the exudate which naturally icoagulates and terms the iaschar. While being substantially non-absorbent the bandage of the present invention is sufiiciently porousto act similar to previous bandages in iholding thexsaid exudate in the neighborhood lot the surface of the wound, permitting coagulation and healingto take place. A

Itis a further object of the invention to provide surgical bandages devoid of projecting iiber ends and fuzz that would permit the 'hea/ling tissues or granulating surface 101: a wound or burn to mesh high temperatures and moisture so that they may i,

be sterilized at temperatures in excess of those permissible with present day bandages, and to provide bandages that will not shrink when sub- ;iected to: moisture at elevated temperatures.

These properties permit the bandages to be rea used.

It is another object of the invention to provide bandages having these properties and made of materials that are inert and will not affect nor "be affected by the usual medicinal substances employed in conjunction with the bandages.

Referring to the drawing:

1 Figure 1 .is a perspective view of a bandage of the present invention in use;

' Figure 2 is a perspective view of aroll of "bandage embodying the present invention;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary-perspective view of a compression band-agewmade in accordance with the present invention; and

Figure 4 is a perspective elevational view or .a bandage .in the form .of a pad to be used asa drain wick or pad.

The invention is applicable to all of the types of bandages, dressings, and wound packs :as presently used. It maybe employed for dressing and treating most of. the types of wounds, burns and ulcers requiring bandages, dressings, and packs, and may be used with superior results in -conjunction with all of the present medicaments and drugs ,now applied with cotton bandages.

"li he present invention provides a bandage in the-term of a fabric of interwoven fibrous glass. The weave may be of any desired type and is preferably' mcderately tight, and the cloth may be of any desired thickness although atorease of application relatively thin cloths of about '1 to t2 mils thickness are usually preferable.

The fibrous glass is most desirably of the type sold as continuous filament glass fibers. 'FIh-ese fibers are made by continuously drawing out small streams of moltenglass by means of :a 1'0- tating drum to form filaments which are collected in strands on the drum, with the filaments :extending substantially continuously throughout the length of the strand. The strands are twisted and plied to form yarns and the yarns woven into cloths in the conventional way. The individual filaments extend substantially throughout the major dimensions of the cloth so that cloths made from this type of fibrous glass are smooth and free from fuzz and projecting fiber ends. Bandages made from this cloth exhibit little tendency for the healing tissues of the granulating surface to mesh with the fibers of the cloth.

The .smooth glass fibers and the smooth yarns resulting from the 'intertwisting of these fibers of continuous lengths provide a fabric which will deform readily under biasing tension to canform to bodycontours and closely overlie injured areas.

The non-hygroscopic nature of the glass fibers provides a bandage that is substantially nonabsorbent so that the exudate from a wound or burn is .not absorbed by the bandages and removed ,from the surface of the wound. At the same time thecpores of the clolthand the tiny interstices between the fibers in the yarns and the spaces between the yarns making up the cloth act to hold the exudate at the surface of a wound or burn to permit coagulation and thus facilitate healing; V

The same property of the glass fiber bandagew prevents the, soaking up of medications and drugs in such large proportions as to be a substantial loss. Only :small amounts of medicaments are taken up in the interstices of the glass .fiber bandage, and even these are quickly released, so that the major proportion by far of the substanoesapplied with the bandage are readily available to the wound.

Figure :1 shows a bandage lllin use. The bandage shown comprises woven glass fiber cloth ll wrapped several times about an injured member tZ.- Suitable means 7 such as gauze, tape or adnating material should, of course, be pliable and non-toxic and have a fairly high resistance to temperatureialthough the fact that it may soften under elevated temperatures is not a-seriousobjectiion sincethe softened or liquified impregnant will be held in place by thelmeshes of the cloth. Substances such as latex, silica cement cornpou id, plasticized vinyl acetate and vinyl chloride polymers and copolymers, vinylidene chlor de, and various other materials available as synthetic rubber, may be employed to impregnate-the fabric by brushing, spraying, or rolling a solution of the substance onto the fabric in the regions desired.

A'roll I5 of bandage. I6 made in this way is illustrated in Figure 2; The bandage l6 of interwoven glass fiber yarns is impregnated along bands [1 extendinglengthwise of the bandage and along bands 18 extending crosswise of the bandage. The bands may be spaced as desired depending on the kinds of; bandages intended and ordinarily are spaced apart about six inches so that the bandage may be out along thermpregnated regions to form a piece six inches square as the smallest bandage or to'form pieces that are multiples of this smallest. piece. The bands usually need be only about one-half inch in, width. 1 1

The bandage of the present invention may be used alone, or in combination with :cotton gauze by applying the fibrous glass bandage directly over the Wound with or without the application of a medicament thereto and then binding the fibrous glass bandage in place with a wrapping of gauze or other cotton material. In this application the advantages flowing from the smooth fibrous glass cloth are realized and there is also a substantial decrease in the absorbency of the entire bandage due to the spacing of the cotton material from the wound by the interjacent fibrous glass. In certain cases where a still lower absorbency is required or where for other reasons it is preferable to dispense with ali cotton, the

entire bandage may consist of several mappings of fibrous glass held in place with tapes of woven glass fibers or by means of adhesive tape in the ordinary way. If desired the adhesive tape, too, maybe formed of a ribbon of interwoven fibrous glass coated with the conventional pressuresensitive adhesive.

Theinvention is also applicable to compression type bandages or dressings of the kind that are ordinarily used for skin grafting compression cushions, or where various medicaments are applied topically, as for the application of saline or Dakins solution. It is also applicable to compression dressings used for preventing or retard-- ing pain by exerting pressure on the injured. area, to allay shock, and to aid healing of the epi thelium.

In such use of the invention, the glass fiber cloth is applied directly to the wound surface and an absorbent material such as cotton or cellulose sheets is applied over the cloth to absorb exudate from the injured-area where the exudate contains toxic substances or where it is desired to collect the exudate for analysis. In this application the absorbing material is separated from the surface of the wound by the glass cloth so that there is little opportunity for the healing tissues to contact the fuzzy absorbing material 'and intermesh therewith. This same arrangement of dressing is useful' where it is desired to apply saline or-other solutions to the surface of the injured area. In such a case the solution or other medicament is applied to the absorbent material which acts as a reservoir to retain the solution and feed it to the surface of the injured area through the glass cloth, the glass cloth acting as a filter or screen and preventing engagement between the absorbent fibrous material and the surface of the injured area. i

Figure3 illustrates a compression bandage or dressing made by enclosing loosely felted fibrous material 2| between two layers 22, 23 of fibrous glass cloth. The fibrous material may be held in place by quilting stitches '24 passing either through both layers of the cloth or through one layer of the cloth and the fibrousmaterial where it is desired to maintain 'a perfectly smooth surface on one face of thebandage. The quilting is done preferably by employing a thread of fibrous glass but cotton, silk or other threads may be used if desired. The fibrous filler 2| of the bandage may consist of cellulose such as that sold as Cellucotton, cotton fibers,. mechanics waste, or the like, or may be formed from mats of haphazardly arranged fine glass fibers loosely; felted to provide a flexible highly resilient fibrous body. In the latter case the all glass compression bandage has the advantage of inertness of inorganic substances. ,7

Similarly to the bandages previously described, the compression bandage may be supplied in rolls which may be cut into pieces of the required size at the time of use. Also as in the case of the previously described bandages, the fabric facings of the compression bandage may be impregnated along bands 28, 29 corresponding with the desired lines of cut to avoid raveling of the cut edges of the fabric.

In the cases both of the fibrous glass bandage backed up with absorbent material and in the case of the quilted compression bandage last described, it is usual to hold these in place over the injured area by wrapping with a water-proof flexible material such as thin, wide strips of resinous materials such as plasticized vinyl acetate'or vinyl chloride polymers and copolymers.

The invention also provides wicks or packs used for drainage of wounds. In this case the fibrous glass in the forms of loosely aggregated fibers, or strands or yarns loosely bundled together, are arranged as a wick to be packed into the opening of the wound to draw exudate from the opening by capillary action. The loosely'aggregated fibers as well as the strands or yarns are preferably arranged in parallelism to insure the desired capillarity.

An arrangement of the fibers in this way is shown in Figure 4. Here the pad 3| is illustrated in the form of a flat pad of glass fibers all arranged in substantial parallelism and extending lengthwise of the pad. This arrangement of the fibers may result from any suitable operation such as'combing or carding a mass of glass fibers to arrange them in substantial parallelism, or by winding the fibers, or yarns or strands of the fibers, on a drum or creel and then cutting the package of fibers thus formed and unrolling it to form a flat pad.

In the latter case and when glass fibers of the continuous filament type are employed, the pad contains a multiplicity of fibers extending lengthwise of the pad throughout the full length thereof to provide an effective medical drain pack. The freedom of the pack from fuzz is of particular value in this case, where the pack is normally placed in very intimate relation with the healing tissues. The pad may be out transversely or divided lengthwise to provide packs of any desired size.

The glass fibers to be incorporated in the packs are advantageously made from a lead-containing glass, of which there are many, so that the fibers will be opaque to X-rays. This permits an X- ray examination of a healed or partly healed wound as a check to determine whether any fibrous material has been allowed to remain in the healing wound.

I claim:

1. Surgical bandage material comprising a plurality of layers of fabric of interwoven glass fiber yarns, and an absorbent pad of intermatted fibrous glass interjacent said layers, said pad of fibrous glass being formed of loosely felted fibers and having substantial flexibility and resilience so that the bandage material may be rolled up.

A surgical bandage in the form of a fabric piece. adapted to be supplied in rolls and applied as covering or wrapping to parts of the human body, the fabric comprising closely associated glass fibers, all of the individual fibers extending REFERENCES The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED PATENTS Plumber Name Date 582,926 Johnson May 18, 1897 1,569,955 Falter Jan. 19, 1926 2,152,012 Albion Mar. 2-3, 1939 2,154,499 Coughlin July t, 1939 2,184,899 Shand Dec. 26, 1939 2,190,431 Lewison Feb. 13, 1940 2,319,019 Van Court May 11, 194.3 2,356,456 Garner Aug. 22, 1944 "FOREIGN PA'IENTS Number Country Date 26,799 Great Britain July 15, 1899 511,166 Great Britain Nov. 3, 1937 OTHER REFERENCES Fiherglas Standards, Owen-Corning Fiberglas Corp, G 9.6.1 (Sept. 3, 1943); D 5.5.1 (June 1, 1944).

Architectural Forum, Nov. 1942, p. 116.

Reprint from Surgery, St. Louis, vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 766-773, May 1944, GI Fab.

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