Gauze sponges are disposable medical supplies commonly used in medicine and surgery. They are ordinarily made of

gauze Gauze is a thin, translucent Textile, fabric with a wikt:loose, loose open Weaving, weave. In technical terms, "gauze" is a weave structure in which the weft yarns are arranged in pairs and are crossed before and after each Warp (weaving), w ...

and are used to absorb blood and other fluids as well as clean wounds. When used in surgery, they are called surgical sponges. Common sizes include , , and . The materials used in the manufacturing of gauze sponges for medical purposes include

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

and non-woven materials. In addition to its many sizes, plys, and fabrics, gauze sponges can also be

sterile Sterile or sterility may refer to: *Asepsis, a state of being free from biological contaminants * Sterile (archaeology), a sediment deposit which contains no evidence of human activity *Sterilization (microbiology), any process that eliminates or ...

and non-sterile. The open weave design of gauze sponges assists with the removal of dead tissue from the skin surface as well as vertically wick fluid from the wound onto any secondary dressing to assist with preventing maceration of skin tissue. Surgical sponges left in body cavities after surgery may cause complications, and are a common sort of surgical error. For this reason, counting them as they are used and removed is a common

checklist A checklist is a type of job aid used in repetitive tasks to reduce failure by compensating for potential limits of human memory and attention. Checklists are used both to ensure that safety-critical system preparations are carried out completely ...

item. When non-radiopaque sponges are forgotten during surgeries, "Textiloma" or " gossypiboma" are formed. Some sponges include a radiopaque strip so that they can be located by

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

References

Bibliography

* "Surgical Sponges" in Colleen J. Rutherford, ''Surgical Equipment and Supplies'', 2nd ed, 2016,

External links

First aid {{medical-equipment-stub