Sterile Protective System for Surgical Instruments During a Surgical Operation

The present invention relates to a protective rack for surgical instruments. More specifically, the present invention relates to a sterile protective system for surgical instruments which reduces the danger of inadvertent puncture or laceration from such instruments during a surgical procedure.

Surgeons and other medical personnel involved in surgical procedures have long been concerned about contamination resultant from contact with blood or other bodily fluids of patients. These fluids all often carry infectious fluid-borne diseases such as hepatitis or the HIV AIDS virus. The danger of contamination is further compounded by the risk of contamination from inadvertent punctures or lacerations caused by hypodermic needles, scalpels or other medical instruments having sharpened edges or points.

To avoid problems associated with inadvertent punctures by hypodermic needles, many physicians have resorted to capping the needles after each use. Such precautionary procedures, however, are time consuming and themselves present a hazard of inadvertent puncture. Accordingly, recapping is generally not recommended by the medical community.

To avoid accidental laceration by sharpened scalpels or the like, such instruments are generally be organized on a surgical tray in a manner so as to reduce the possibility of contamination during instrument retrieval. Organization and grouping of medical instruments, however, are not always possible when surgeons perform unassisted operations as is often the case in out-patient surgery.

The present invention addresses the above and other disadvantages by providing a disposable, sterile protective system which is adapted to isolate the sharpened points or edges of surgical instruments. The system helps to prevent inadvertent contact by surgical personnel, while maintaining the sterility of the instruments. The present invention also helps to protect instruments during surgical operations from possible damaging contact with each other. The invention also guards against possible cross contamination among various surgical instruments.

The invention generally comprises a formed, freestanding body or rack provided with a plurality of grooves or slots which are separated by raised partitions. The grooves are adapted to receive a variety of differently configured surgical instruments. The surgical rack is preferably designed to hold and isolate the instruments in an inclined orientation, such that the proximate ends or handles of the instruments are readily accessible to the surgeon. The remote or patient ends of the instruments are maintained in the grooves below the level of the partitions. In such a fashion, the remote end of each instrument is substantially removed from the possibility of inadvertent contact by the surgeon or other attending medical personnel. The sharpened points or cutting surfaces of the instruments are likewise isolated from contact with each other.

The present invention also includes a disposable surgical towel or drape which is attachable to the surgical rack so as to form an integral unit. In this connection, the surgical towel or drape is secured to the bottom surface of the surgical rack so as to define a sterile field thereabout. This field accommodates the placement and/or organization of instruments or other sterile surgical items. The surgical drape also preserves the sterility of the proximate or handle ends of the surgical items.

The present invention provides a number of advantages over prior art systems and methods for preventing inadvertent laceration or puncture from surgical instruments. One such benefit is the isolation of the potentially contaminated cutting surfaces and/or sharpened edges or points of such instruments. This is achieved by situating these cutting surfaces, edges or points in recessed portions of the surgical rack such that their exposure is brought about only as a result of the intentional extraction of an instrument.

A second advantage of the present invention lies in the reduction or elimination of the need, in many instances, for an assisting nurse to organize the instruments during the surgical procedure. Due to the nature of the present invention, instrument organization may be accomplished by the physicia himself. Additionally, the integration of the drape and the surgical rack reduces or eliminates the need for a preparation nurse or assistant to use sterile gloves to place the system on a surgical tray, since this task may instead be accomplished by the use of surgical transfer forceps.

Yet other advantages include a reduction in the risk of penetrating or otherwise comprising a sterile field drape by puncture or laceration. This risk is addressed by the ability to place sharp or pointed objects directly on the surgical rack. The surgical rack also allows for more ready retrieval of instruments than would otherwise be possible off of a flat surgical drape.

The use of the present system also provides for savings in terms of both costs and time in connection with the use of hypodermic syringes. This is achieved by the present invention by reducing or eliminating the need to recap syringes during surgical procedures, or alternatively, to use additional syringes.

Other advantages of the present invention will become obvious to those skilled in the art in light of the following description and accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention including a surgical rack as it may be affixed to a surgical drape.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a side cutaway view of the embodiment of the invention taken along the section lines 3--3 in FIG. 1.

The components of the present invention may be generally seen by reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a surgical rack 2 of the invention as it may be positioned relative to a surgical drape 4 so as to form an integral unit. As illustrated, surgical rack 2 is positioned in the upper right hand quadrant of the surgical drape 4 to aid in packaging and preparation of the unit preliminary to a surgical procedure, and as will be further discussed herein.

Surgical rack 2 generally comprises a body 5 including a base or flange 7 about its bottommost extent. In a preferred embodiment, body 5 is provided with a series of specially configured grooves or channels 9 about its upper surface which are separated by a corresponding series of partitions or dividing walls 11 and sidewalls 15. As illustrated in FIG. 1, channels or grooves 9 are adapted to hold and isolate a variety of instruments 20. Grooves 9 may therefore adopt a variety of configurations depending on their intended application. Thus, body 5 may be provided with a "T-shaped" groove 13 and/or linear grooves 9 as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. Grooves 9 may also be provided with corrugations (not shown) or other means to securely hold the surgical instruments. Preferably, dividing walls 11 taper at their uppermost extent so as to facilitate instrument removal. Accordingly, grooves 9 taper downwardly as illustrated.

Each groove 9 defines an open end and a closed end 22. (See FIG. 3). The closed end 22 of groove 9 terminates in the raised back portion 24 of body 5. The surgical rack is adapted to be used such that the open end 21 of groove 9 faces the physician so as to facilitate instrument retrieval and identification.

Referring to FIG. 3, grooves 9 preferably define a upwardly sloping bottom surface 17 when viewed in side cross section. Instruments placed in grooves 9 therefore adopt a tilted orientation such that the remote patient end 30 of said instruments is raised with respect to the proximal surgeon end or handle 31. This orientation serves two functions. First, this upwardly slanted orientation allows easier access and identification of the instruments 20 to the surgeon. Secondly, nonviscous fluids or the like remaining on the instruments will be moved outwardly down the inclined bottom surface 17 and will therefore be unable to collect or pool. To further prevent such pooling, bottom surface 17 may be provided with drainage apertures or the like (not shown).

Body 5 is preferably comprised of single sheet PVC or styrene which is thermovacuum molded in a conventional fashion. In this connection, it is envisioned that body 5 is hollow about its interior. (See FIG. 3). Back wall 24, partitions 11 and sidewalls 15 are therefore comprised of a double layer of material which offers additional safeguards against puncture or laceration to medical personnel. Such double wall construction also helps ensure against the inadvertent breach of the sterile field created by drape 4.

Body 5 is preferably provided with a base or flange 7. Flange 7 serves to stabilize body 5 so as to maintain a secure, upright orientation. Flange 7 also serves as an attachment site for surgical drape 4. In a preferred embodiment, surgical rack 2 is secured to drape 4 via a contact adhesive such as a 957 contact adhesive manufactured by The 3M Company. To aid in packaging, it is desirable to secure the surgical rack 2 to the upper right-hand quadrant of the surgical drape 4 as illustrated in FIG. 2. In this fashion, the combination surgical rack 2 and drape 4 may be readied for use merely by grasping a corner of the drape 4 from the opened end of a sterilized package containing the system and allowing the weight of the rack to unfold the drape 4. As noted, this process may be carried out by surgical transfer forceps to preserve the sterility of the system.

Surgical drape 4 preferably comprises a laminated plastic-paper composition such as the Poly-Back drape manufactured by Graham Medical Products, Inc. of Green Bay, Wis. Other surgical towels are also envisioned in the spirit of the present invention.

In an alternate embodiment, the surgical rack 2 may be used individually and apart from surgical drape 4. The use of the rack 2 in this manner may be desirable in a outpatient procedure such as dermatology, otorhinolaryngology, dentistry, etc. In such cases, the remote patient end of the surgical instrument is placed on the rack 2 during the surgical procedure and is therefore maintained in a sterile condition.