Why are Cloth Caps More Effective than Disposable Medical Caps

When the research was conducted about how effective operating room head caps are in preventing airborne transmission of infection, they learned that these head coverings are not different from disposable scrub caps. This study was presented in 2017 at the Scientific Forum of the ACS or American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress. It was published online and in print. Although there is still no definitive research yet, there are worries that there can be an increase in the risk of infection on the surgical site if there is exposed hair in the operating room. There has also been no definitive data stating what an optimal head covering to be worn there.One study tested 3 styles of normal surgical head caps that are commercially sold. These are disposable head caps similar to bouffant hats, cloth, and disposable skull caps that are normally used by surgeons and disposable head caps with sides made of paper. For the air contamination test, it was conducted under various conditions in an actual OR. An hour-long mock operation was done for each style of headgear. The test for each headgear was conducted 4 times at 2 different ORs. The ORs both had good ventilation systems.The bouffant head caps and the disposable skull caps have the same number of airborne particles. For the skull caps made of cloth, it showed a lower number of airborne particles and microbial shedding in the OR area compared with the other headgears.