WO2009049912A1

WO2009049912A1 - Surgical drape support

Info

Publication number: WO2009049912A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/008868
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sean O'connor; John Moreton; Gerry O'sullivan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-10-19
Filing date: 2008-10-20
Publication date: 2009-04-23
Anticipated expiration: 2010-04-19
Also published as: IES20080850A2

Abstract

The present invention provides a surgical drape support (10, 110) for supporting a surgical drape over a patient's legs during surgery, the surgical drape support comprising first (12, 112) and second (14, 114) sections, the first and second sections each being shaped and dimensioned to cover a respective leg of a patient, and the first and second sections meeting at and defining an elongate and preferably V-shaped channel (16) therebetween, said channel being shaped and dimensioned to fit between the legs of the patient when the first and second sections are positioned to cover the legs of the patient.

Description

Surgical Drape Support

The present invention relates to a surgical drape support, in particular a surgical drape support for supporting a surgical drape over a patient's legs during surgery.

Drapes are often used during surgery to cover an area of the body surrounding an area undergoing surgery. This is normally done to reduce the possibility of contamination to the area in which surgery is being performed. During groin surgery, a surgical drape is normally draped over the patient' s legs.

Although a surgical drape can adequately cover the patient' s legs, the surface of the surgical drape tends to be uneven as it takes the shape of the patient's legs, providing an undesirable bumpy surface. Any surgical instruments, catheters or the like placed on the uneven surgical drape tend to slip off and become displaced, even falling to the ground. Thus, since a surgeon requires a smooth surface on which to place surgical instruments required during surgery, a separate table or the like is required to hold surgical instruments until they are needed during the surgical procedure. The use of a separate table can be cumbersome as it can get in the way of the surgeon. Additionally, it can be awkward for the surgeon to turn away from the surgical procedure and towards the table in order to take hold of a required surgical instrument. Even instructing a colleague to pass the required instrument is an interruption to the surgery.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to mitigate the disadvantages associated with the prior art. Accordingly, there is provided a surgical drape support for supporting a surgical drape over a patient's legs, the surgical drape support comprising first and second sections, the first and second sections each being shaped and dimensioned to cover a respective leg of a patient, and the first and second sections meeting at and defining an elongate channel therebetween, said elongate channel being shaped and dimensioned to fit between the legs of the patient when the first and second sections are positioned to cover the legs of the patient.

Preferably, the first and second sections meet at a bridging portion .

Preferably, the bridging portion is substantially V-shaped in cross-section.

Preferably, each of the first and second sections extends away from the channel to substantially cover the respective leg of the patient.

In this embodiment, the surgical drape support is preferably generally V-shaped.

More preferably, each of the first and second sections extends to substantially enclose the respective leg of the patient .

In this embodiment, the surgical drape support is preferably generally M-shaped.

Preferably, the elongate channel is provided with a recessed portion at one end thereof. Preferably, the surgical drape support is provided with a plurality of spaced apart radiopaque markers.

Preferably, each radiopaque marker is spaced from an adjacent radiopaque marker by a distance of approximately 10 mm.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: -

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a surgical drape support according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the surgical drape support taken along X-X of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic view of the surgical drape support of Figure 1 in use with a patient;

Figure 4 is a schematic view of the surgical drape support in use as shown in Figure 3, wherein the surgical drape support is supporting a surgical drape;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a surgical drape support according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the surgical support drape taken along X'-X' of Figure 5;

Figure 7 shows a variation of the surgical drape support of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a schematic view of the surgical drape support of the second embodiment in use with a patient, and wherein the surgical drape support is supporting a surgical drape; Figure 9 is a perspective view of the variation of the surgical drape support of the second embodiment; and wherein the surgical drape support is shown to comprise a plurality of radiopaque markers integrally formed therewith; and

Figure 10 is an enlarged view of the radiopaque markers shown in Figure 9.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a surgical drape support generally indicated as 10, according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The surgical drape support 10 is conveniently adapted to support a surgical drape D over a patient's legs, as will be described in more detail hereinafter.

The surgical drape support 10 comprises first and second sections 12, 14, each section 12, 14 being shaped and dimensioned to cover a respective leg (not shown) of a patient P. The first and second sections 12, 14 preferably meet at and define and elongate channel 16 therebetween, as shown for example in Figure 1. The elongate channel 16 is conveniently shaped and dimensioned to fit between the legs of the patient P when the first and second sections 12, 14 are positioned to cover the legs of the patient P, as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The first and second sections 12, 14 preferably meet at a bridging portion 18, which is preferably substantially V- shaped in cross-section, as shown for example in Figure 2.

Although the patient's legs are not shown in the drawings, it will be appreciated from Figure 3 for example, that each of the first and second sections 12, 14 extends away from the channel 16 to substantially cover the respective leg of the patient P. Thus, the surgical drape support 10 of the first embodiment is preferably generally V-shaped as will be appreciated from Figures 1-4. The surgical drape support 10 is preferably made from cardboard. However, it will be appreciated that any other suitable material may be used.

The surgical drape support 10 may be used as follows.

Prior to surgery, for example groin surgery, the patient P is placed on an operating table T with his legs apart. The surgical drape support 10 is placed over the patient's legs so that the elongate channel 16 fits between the legs and the first and second sections substantially cover the legs of the patient P. As will be appreciated from Figure 3, the surgical drape support 10 preferably extends from the groin area of the patient as far as his feet F. Once the surgical drape support 10 is in position, a surgical drape D is placed over and supported by the surgical drape support 10. This arrangement of the surgical drape D in position over the surgical drape support 10 is shown in Figure 4, wherein the surgical drape support 10 is shown in dotted outline.

By positioning the surgical drape support 10 beneath the surgical drape D, the surface of the drape D is conveniently smooth rather than bumpy, since the surgical drape D takes the shape of the surgical drape support 10 located beneath it. Therefore, the surgeon may conveniently place surgical instruments (not shown) , catheters or the like (not shown) , in the elongate channel 16, or on the smooth surfaces of the drape D. This provides easy access to the instruments, and advantageously avoids the use of a separate table to hold such items . Referring now to Figures 5 - 9 of the drawings, there is illustrated a surgical drape support 110 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, like components have been accorded like reference numerals, and unless stated to the contrary, perform like functions.

In the surgical drape support 110 of the second embodiment, each of the first and second sections 112, 114 preferably extends to substantially enclose the respective leg of the patient P, as shown by the dotted outline of the surgical drape support 110 in Figure 8. Thus, the surgical drape support 110 of the second embodiment is preferably generally M shaped. The otherwise free ends of the first and second sections 112, 114 preferably terminate in portions 20, which portions 20 are adapted to cover the outside of the patient's legs in use.

The surgical drape support 110 of the second embodiment is used in the same way as the surgical drape support 10 of the first embodiment previously described herein. The shape of the surgical drape support 110 of the second embodiment provides a rigid structure which advantageously provides a surgical drape D with a particularly flat, smooth surface, on which surgical instruments and the like may be placed.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 9 in particular, a variation of the surgical drape support 110 of the second embodiment is shown, wherein the elongate channel 116 of the variation comprises a recessed portion 22 at one end thereof. The variation of the surgical drape support 110 is primarily intended for use with male patients, wherein the recessed portion 22 is designed to accommodate the patient' s genitals . Referring to Figures 9 and 10, the surgical drape support 110 is shown to comprise a plurality of radiopaque markers 26 spaced apart from one another by a series of markings 28. Each radiopaque marker 26 is preferably spaced from an adjacent radiopaque marker 26 by a distance of approximately 10 mm. The radiopaque markers 26 function in their usual way and conveniently provide the physician with instrument orientation relative to the patient's body. The radiopaque markers 26 are preferably integrally formed with the surgical drape support 110, but they are not limited thereto, and may be attached and detached as necessary. For example, the surgical drape support 110 may be designed as a one-use product, whereas the radiopaque markers 26 may be reused with a number of different supports 110, positioning them in appropriate locations on the supports 110 depending on the use intended.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein. For example, it will be appreciated that the bridging portion 18, 118 is not limited to being substantially V-shaped in cross-section, and may be any other suitable shape such as a U-shape, without limiting the invention thereto.

It will be further appreciated that the elongate channel 16, 116 is not limited to being a continuous channel, and may instead comprise a number of struts (not shown) extending between the first and second sections 12, 112; 14, 114.

It will be apparent that the surgical drape support 10, 110 is not limited to being of a length so that it extends from the groin area to the feet F of the patient P. For example, the surgical drape support 10, 110 may be adapted so that it extends from the groin area to the knees of the patient. It will be further apparent that the radiopaque markers 26 are not limited to use with the surgical drape support 110 of the second embodiment, and they may be used with the surgical drape support 10 of the first embodiment.

Claims

1. A surgical drape support for supporting a surgical drape over a patient's legs, the surgical drape support comprising first and second sections, the first and second sections each being shaped and dimensioned to cover a respective leg of a patient, and the first and second sections meeting at and defining an elongate channel therebetween, said elongate channel being shaped and dimensioned to fit between the legs of the patient when the first and second sections are positioned to cover the legs of the patient.

2. A surgical drape support according to claim 1 in which the first and second sections meet at a bridging portion.

3. A surgical drape support according to claim 2 in which the bridging portion is substantially V-shaped in cross- section.

4. A surgical drape support according to any of claims 1 to 3 in which each of the first and second sections extends away from the channel to substantially cover the respective leg of the patient.

5. A surgical drape support according to any preceding claim which is generally V-shaped.

6. A surgical drape support according to any preceding claim in which each of the first and second sections extends to substantially enclose the respective leg of the patient.

7. A surgical drape support according to any preceding claim which is generally M-shaped.

8. A surgical drape support according to any preceding claim in which the elongate channel is provided with a recessed portion at one end thereof.

9. A surgical drape support according to any preceding claim comprising a plurality of spaced apart radiopaque markers .

10. A surgical drape support according to claim 9 in which each radiopaque marker is spaced from an adjacent radiopaque marker by a distance of approximately 10 mm.