Surgical drapes are important supplies for surgery. According to different materials, surgical drapes are divided into reusable drapes and disposable drapes. The materials for reusable drapes mainly include cotton and woven fabrics, which are soft, easy to lay, highly absorbent, watertight, dusty, and autoclavable. The materials for disposable drapes are mainly non-woven, the non-woven fabric is waterproof, water separation, dust-free flocs and single use .

The comparison of infection control between two kinds of drape is as follows:

1. Isolation: the isolation principle in surgical drape mainly refers to the use of drape to separate the unclean body parts or surgical equipment and instruments from the operation area, which can be achieved by disposable drape and reusable drape. However, in special circumstances, disposable drape can effectively protect all parts, ensure asepsis of the operation area and control infection, but reusable drapess are more difficult to meet the requirements.

2. Barrier: The principle of barriers for surgical drapes refers to the use of sterile surgical drapes to establish a water barrier to prevent the penetration of blood and body fluids. Disposable drapes can prevent the penetration of liquids, but reusable drapes are penetrable and have no barrier effect. Once the liquid penetrates, the risk of infection is increased.

3. Sterile area: disposable drape and reusable drape can both ensure the sterile area, but the latter may be damaged during repeated use,such as the use of cloth pliers. If the damage is not easy to detect with the naked eye, there is a hidden danger that the sterile area is not sterile, which increases the possibility of infection.

4. Sterile surface: The film in the disposable drape creates a sterilized surface at the incision. Reusable drapes do not have this effect.

5. Controlling liquids: Reusable drapes can not control the liquid due to their strong water absorption and water-tight characteristics, which can cause pollution; disposable drapes can be designed with temporary water storage bags or guided through the device according to different surgical sites, which can better control the intraoperative liquid.

Disposable surgical drapes have obvious advantages over reusable drapes in controlling infections, and provide a good guarantee for the success of the operation.