From life or film and television, we will see that when the doctor performs surgery on the patient, they first cover the patient's body with a surgical drape, and finally only expose a hole or a square gap, and then operate the patient from this hole. Are you as curious as most people about why do doctors do this?

In fact, doctors do this mainly for the following four reasons:

1. Due to the requirement of aseptic operation

In the past, the operation was open, without strict wearing of surgical masks and gloves, and without disinfection of the operation area, so the postoperative infection rate was very high at that time, many people died of postoperative infection. Later, scientists discovered the existence of bacteria, so they have the current requirements for aseptic surgery. Before the operation, the doctor will first disinfect the patient's incision site with iodine tincture, and then disinfect it twice with alcohol. After disinfection, the doctor will cover the patient with a blue or green sterile surgical drape. This is equivalent to enclosing the surgical area into a large sterile area, and the holes in the drape help doctors locate the surgical site accurately, and will not affect the operation. The reason why blue or green is chosen is that blue or green can relieve eye fatigue and is suitable for long-term staring. Covering the surgical drape can ensure that it is always sterile during the operation.

2. For the protection of patients' privacy

Depending on the operation, the patient may have to take off his or her top or even his entire body. After the doctor disinfects the patient, the rest of the area is covered with surgical drape. As long as the surgical field of vision is exposed to facilitate the doctor's operation, this can protect the patient's privacy, so as not to expose his / her whole body for more than ten hours.

3. Heat preservation

People who have undergone surgery know that although the constant temperature of the operating room is around 25 degrees all the year round, when a person is anesthetized, the body's metabolism will be minimized, the muscles will not contract and generate heat, plus the surgical exposure, the skin will have to be cut open, and the heat will be released quickly. In addition, a large amount of infusion is required during the operation, and the normal temperature liquid will make the temperature drop after being delivered to the body. If the patient is not covered with a thick surgical drape, then the body temperature will be too low. Therefore, there is also one aspect of covering the surgical drape for the purpose of heat preservation.

4. Facilitate better delivery of surgical instruments

A surgical operation requires a lot of surgical instruments, and doctors use them according to the situation. For some instruments that are inconvenient to put back in time, the doctor can temporarily put them on the surgical drape. One is to prevent the instruments from being contaminated, and the other is to facilitate the doctors to take and operate them.

After reading this article, do you suddenly realize that there are so many functions to cover the surgical drape. A simple method ensures aseptic operation and saves countless lives, which is the top priority in surgery.