A Review on the Properties and Structures of Surgical Gowns

In recent years, the use of protective medical textiles has been considerably raised due to the advances in the science and the increase of the people’s awareness. Gown is a common term used for the protective clothing worn by surgons and the healthcare staff during the operation.. In addition to being a barrier against liquids, surgical gowns should offer a suitable level of air and water vapor permeability in order not to adversely affect the comfort of the wearer. Moreover, surgical gowns should not cause thermal stress which may deteriorate the the performance of the staff and cause an undesirable effect on the operation process. In this review paper, some information on the raw materials, types of surgical gows, their requirements, standards and instructions and test methods, with reference to the previous research works are presented. According to the results, barrier properties of surgical gowns are of their most important properties which are affected by such parameters as fiber diameter, fabric structure, areal weight and type of finish. Moreover, comfort of the gown is also affected by parameters such as fabric drape and water vapor permeability.