Flammable surgical drapes--a patient and personnel hazard

After a surgical drape fire, the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists, Operating Room Safety Committee, investigated the factors contributing to it. Subsequently, eight detailed cases were collected. It found that no voluntary standards or government regulations exist to oversee the flammability of surgical drapes; no agency or bureau collects reports of operating room fires; most professionals are not aware of the hazard because no labelling requirements regarding flammability exist and because most episodes are minor in nature or settled out of court and thus not reported. This relatively new hazard has developed with the more frequent use of high-energy devices designed to provide better therapeutic results.