The difference between protective coverall, isolation gown and surgical gown

Protective clothing, isolation gowns and surgical gowns are important measures for the prevention and control of infection in hospitals, and they play an important role in protecting patients and medical workers.

1. Function:

Disposable isolation gowns: protective equipment used for medical personnel to avoid contamination by blood, body fluids, and other infectious substances during contact, or to protect patients from infection. Isolation gowns not only prevent infection or contamination of medical staff, but also prevent infection of patients, it is a two-way isolation.

Disposable microprous proctive coverall: disposable protective equipment worn by clinical medical staff when they come into contact with patients with Class A or infectious diseases managed by Class A infectious diseases. Protective clothing is to prevent medical staff from being infected and is a single item of isolation.

Disposable surgical cpe gown: The surgical gown plays a two-way protective role during the operation. First, the surgical gown establishes a barrier between the patient and the medical staff, reducing the probability of medical staff coming into contact with the patient’s blood or other body fluids and other potential sources of infection during the operation; secondly, the surgical gown can block colonization/adhesion to the medical staff’s skin or clothing Various bacteria on the surface spread to the surgical patients, effectively avoiding cross-infection of MRSA, VRE, etc. Therefore, the barrier function of surgical gowns is regarded as the key to reducing the risk of infection during surgery

  2. Different indications for dressing

Disposable isolation gown:

(1). When contacting patients with infectious diseases spread by contact, such as those infected by multi-drug resistant bacteria. 

(2). When carrying out protective isolation of patients, such as diagnosis, treatment and nursing of patients with extensive burns and bone graft patients.

(3). It may be splashed by the patient's blood, body fluids, secretions and feces.

(4). To enter key departments such as ICU, NICU, and protective wards, whether to wear isolation gowns or not should be decided according to the purpose of entry and the contact status of the medical staff.

Disposable protective clothing:

(1). When in contact with patients who are in Class A or managed by Class A infectious diseases.

(2). When contacting patients with suspected or confirmed SARS, Ebola, MERS, H7N9 avian influenza, etc., the latest infection control guidelines should be followed.

Disposable surgical gown:

 It is strictly sterilized and used for invasive treatment of patients in a specialized operating room.

  3. Appearance and material requirements:

Disposable isolation clothing:

Disposable isolation clothing is usually made of non-woven materials, or combined with materials with better impermeability, such as plastic film. Isolation clothing should be able to cover the torso and all clothing, without a hat, and can be waterproof or non-waterproof.

Disposable protective clothing: 

GB 19082-2009 clearly states that microporous protective coveall with hooded can be divided into one-piece structure and two-piece structure. The trouser legs and cuffs are tightened, and the protection level of protective clothing is higher than that of isolation clothing. Generally recommended to use disposable.

The standard clearly states that antistatic protective clothing must have liquid barrier function, flame retardant properties, and have requirements for breaking strength, breaking elongation, and filtration efficiency.

Disposable surgical gown:

In 2005, my country issued a series of standards related to surgical gowns (YY/T0506). This standard is similar to the European standard EN13795. The standards have clear requirements for the barrier properties, strength, microbial penetration, and comfort of surgical gown materials [1]. The surgical gown should be impermeable, sterile, one-piece, and without a cap. Generally, the cuffs of surgical gowns are elastic, which is easy to wear and is helpful to wear sterile hand gloves. It is not only used to protect medical staff from contamination by infectious substances, but also to protect the sterile state of the exposed parts of the operation.

In summary, the requirements for disposable surgical isolation gowns and protective clothing are significantly higher than those for disposable isolation gowns. In cases where isolation gowns are commonly used in clinical practice, disposable surgical gowns and isolation gowns can communicate with each other, but where disposable surgical gowns must be used cannot be replaced by isolation gowns.