WO1989002726A1

WO1989002726A1 - Surgical container

Info

Publication number: WO1989002726A1
Application number: PCT/GB1988/000797
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anita Faith Norman
Original assignee: Anita Faith Norman
Priority date: 1987-09-30
Filing date: 1988-09-29
Publication date: 1989-04-06
Also published as: GB2230692A; AU2483588A; GB8722891D0; GB9008711D0

Abstract

A plurality of pockets are formed on a sheet for containing respective soiled surgical swabs. The pockets may be sealed to prevent blood loss. A pocket may be formed for the swab band.

Description

.SURGICAL CONTAINER This invention relates to surgical containers. In surgery, absorbent swabs are used to absorb blood and other liquids at the incision or inside the body. These swabs are hung on a rack and, when the operation is over, they are "counted down" into a receptacle for disposal, in other words a check is made to ensure that all the swabs which were used are accounted for, with none being left in the patient.

US-A-3 749 237 discloses a container for handling soiled surgical swabs in which two adjacent, relatively small, swab pockets or one relatively large swab pocket are provided seriatim on a roll which must be dispensed from a roll holder. The strip which is unrolled from the roll may be torn at intervals to provide predetermined numbers of pockets, for example five or ten, which may then be weighed to calculate blood loss. The pockets are not sealed.

The present invention provides a deceptively simple container which facilitates an improved procedure.

One aspect of the invention provides a container for surgical swabs, the container comprising a plurality of swab pockets, each adapted to accept a respective swab and sealing means to seal the pockets. Surgical swabs usually come in packs of five, held by a band. The swabs and bands are "counted down" as described above so that, by counting the bands, a double- check is performed. Thus, preferably, in the container there are five swab pockets and a further pocket for the band.

Conveniently, the container comprises a sheet on which the pockets are arranged, an edge of the sheet having"'means to enable the container to be hung from a support. Suitably, the swab pocket and band pocket are arranged in a generally horizontal row when the container is hung as said.

Advantageously, the sealing means comprises a peripheral adhesive strip such that the sheet may be folded to enclose the pockets and sealed around the resulting periphery.

The container of the invention will normally be supplied in a sterile pack.

A second aspect of the invention provides a method of handling used surgical swabs, comprising the steps of placing the swabs into respective swab pockets of the container, placing a used surgical band into the band pocket of the container, and sealing the container once all of the pockets are filled. This procedure will normally be carried out by a scrub nurse, who will then pass the sealed container to the circulating nurse who counts a predetermined number of sealed containers into a receptacle.

The "counting down" procedure is facilitated, because the swabs are being counted in groups, preferably of five. In addition, the amount of blood which escapes onto the floor and other surfaces is minimised, because the swabs (which are usually saturated with blood) are placed ' immediately into a container instead of being allowed to hang free and drip. This is a particularly important advantage now that the disease known as AIDS is becoming prevalent. EXAMPLE

A container A in accordance with the invention comprises a rectangular sheet roughly 37 cm by 15 cm of blood-impermeable material 1 , such as polyvinylchloride (PVC), polythene, Cellophane (R.T.M.) or waxed card, which has respective holes 2 at opposed corners on one long edge 3 thereof, a peripheral strip of self-adhesive material 4 on one face, spaced inwardly of the holes 2 along the said long edge, and, affixed to the face which has the adhesive, a second rectangular piece of blood- impermeable material 5, roughly 30 cm by 5 cm. The latter is affixed by heat-sealing or by adhesive in such a way as to form five large pockets 6 , about 5 cm by 5 cm, and one smaller pocket 7, roughly 2.5 cm by 2.5 cm. The mouths of all the pockets face towards the long edge 3 of the main sheet of material 1.

The material used for the sheets 1, 5 is preferably clear PVC and it may be either hard PVC (made as a "hard shell mould") or soft PVC. Suitably, it is capable of sterilisation with ethylene oxide in the known manner. It is preferred for the PVC to be such as to comply with EEC arid other regulations covering toxic emissions following incineration.

The container A is supplied sealed in a sterile pack (not shown) . When the pack is opened, the container A is hung by means of the holes 2 on the hooks of a "Mayo" stand, the large pockets 6 are successively filled with respective used swabs and the small pocket 7 is filled with the swab band. The bottom edge of the sheet 1 is then folded upwards the upper long edge 3 and the container is sealed by means of the adhesive strip 4. The full container can then be placed on one side and the procedure repeated with a further container.

When the operation is over, the full containers are counted into a receptacle for disposal, thereby counting the swabs five at a time and the bands simultaneously. The number of large, swab-receiving pockets can of course be varied: there should be at least two to make the use of the container worthwhile, but more than twenty may make the container too bulky for convenience. The container sheet 1 need not be rectangular, and the pockets may be arranged as two or more rows instead of only one. More holes 2, or only one, may be provided. The adhesive may be any suitable adhesive but should not be affectdd unduly by the conditions to which it will be exposed: moisture and warmth. A protective cover strip for the adhesive may be used, but it is preferable for the container to be supplied in the folded, sealed, configuration and for ^' the adhesive to be re-usable, at least once.

Claims

1. A container for surgical swabs, the container comprising a plurality of swab pockets, each adapted to accept a respective swab and sealing means to seal the pockets.

2. A container according to Claim 1 wherein there are five swab pockets.

3. A container according to Claim 1 or 2 additionally comprising a band pocket adapted to accept a surgical band.

4. A container according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 comprising a sheet on which the pockets are arranged, an edge of the sheet having means to enable the container to be hung from a support.

5. A container according to Claim 4 when dependent on Claim 3 wherein the swab pockets and band pocket are arranged in a generally horizontal row when the container is hung as said.

6. A container according to Claim 4 or 5 wherein the sealing means comprises a peripheral adhesive strip such that the sheet may be folded to enclose the pockets and sealed around the resulting periphery.

7. A combination of a sterile container according to any one of Claims 1 to 6 and an internally sterile pack enclosing the container.

8. A method of handling used surgical swabs, comprising the steps of placing the swabs into respective swab pockets of a container according to Claim 3 or any claim dependent thereon, placing a used surgical band into the band pocket of the container, and sealing the container once all of the pockets are filled.

9. A method according to Claim 8 performed by a scrub nurse and comprising a further step wherein the scrub nurse ^'passes the sealed container to the circulating nurse who counts a predetermined number of sealed containers into a receptacle.