Comparison of adhesiveness between new improved surgical drapes and existing drapes during contraceptive surgery in 90 cats: a multi-center controlled clinical trial.

Plastic drapes are used prevent surgical site infections by enclosing bacteria within adhesive layers that directly contact the skin during surgery. However, these drapes often peel from the surgical edge, increasing the risk of surgical site infection. This problem has remained unresolved since the development of plastic drapes decades ago. Recently, a basic study using rat skin reported improvements in the structure of these drapes. This study indicated that drape detachment during skin incision can be suppressed by improving the flexibility of the drape base film. Furthermore, although the number of cases was small, a clinical study was conducted, and the improved flexible drape was found to peel off less during cat surgery. The purpose of this study was to compare the peeling area of an existing drape with that of a prototype drape with an improved flexible base film in a large number of feline cases as part of a multi-center controlled clinical trial. Ninety cats that underwent neutering were randomly assigned to the existing drape group and the prototype drape group. Immediately after the skin incision and before suturing, the surgeon graded the degree of detachment of the drape from the surgical edge based on the diagram prepared in advance. The peeling grade of the prototype drape was lower than that of the existing drape at both times. We concluded that the prototype drape with a more flexible base film could reduce the intraoperative drape peeling area.