Fluro-Tec^® Swabs and Sponges

Product Overview and Challenge

Abdominal/Surgical Swabs and Sponges are a low cost, frequently used consumable in surgical procedures.  They are primarily used to control bleeding and absorb fluids, and they can be very hard to visually detect once they are placed inside the body and soaked in blood.  The fact they are small and often tucked into cavities or placed behind organs only serves to add to the challenge of locating and removing them intra-operatively, which can waste precious theatre time, increase stress for clinicians and create significant health and cost implications for patients and healthcare providers if they are retained.

Our Goal

Make them easier to visually detect intra-operatively.

Small Change

Addition of a fluorescent, non-absorbent thread.

Big Impact

While the chance of a retained Abdominal Sponge or Swab occurring at a per procedure level may be extremely low, the sheer volume of Swabs and Sponges used per annum mean it is an ever-present risk and instances of retained Swabs and Sponges still occur in hospitals around Australia despite the stringent processes and practices in place. When an incident does occur, the consequences to both hospitals and patients can be severe.

In our opinion, anything that can be done to drive down the chances of Swabs and Sponges being retained, is a perfect example of how a small change can have a big impact to those who matter most - the patients in your care.

Our work with nurses and surgeons has shown us that all too often it’s the little things that make the biggest differences to their theatre day.

Loose threads, poor absorbency and hard to locate Sponges or Swabs can waste precious time and increase stress levels. That’s why we designed Fluro-Tec Swabs and Sponges to stay intact and be easier to intra-operatively detect.

Abdominal Swabs and Sponges are simple, everyday consumables to surgical teams. It’s a category of products that has experienced very little change in the last decade. So, on the surface, a small change, like adding the fluorescent thread to make them easier to visually detect intra-operatively, might not seem like a big deal. However, when you consider the scale of usage (we estimate Australian hospitals consume about 80 million Swabs and Sponges every year) a simple thread change can add up to a very big impact on a clinicians time in theatre.

Fluro-Tec Swabs and Sponges are the same price as our traditional Swabs and Sponges. They provide customers with better value for money, as each improvement made delivers more benefit at no additional cost.

Lean more about Fluro-Tec Swabs and Sponges.

Composite Sponges

Product Overview and Challenge

Abdominal/Surgical Sponges are a low cost, frequently used consumable in surgical procedures.  They are primarily used to control bleeding and absorb fluids.

Multigate currently offers our customers two types of Surgical Sponge.

1.  100% Cotton Sponge
Made from 6 layers of cotton.

2.  Composite Sponge
This sponge is also made from 6 layers.  The 2 outer layers are cotton (identical to 100% cotton sponge), the 4 inner layers are polyester viscose.

The two products perform similarly clinically. However, there are significant reasons for choosing a composite sponge over the traditional 100% cotton sponge.

Our Goal

Improve the environmental footprint of the Surgical Sponge.

Small Change

Changing the inner layers to polyester viscose.

Big Impact

We commissioned an internal Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) study from Lifecycles to better understand the environmental impact of our two products.  What we learnt is that our Composite Sponge had a significantly lower environmental footprint in three out of four key areas assessed in the LCA; water usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and the introduction of particulate matter into our atmosphere. Abiotic depletion (use of non-renewable resources) was marginally higher for the composite sponge than for the cotton sponge.  We will focus on the top two areas: water usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

When you use a Multigate Composite Sponge instead of a Multigate 100% Cotton Sponge:

Abdominal sponges are a frequently used surgical consumable.

In 2021, Multigate supplied approximately 8.8 million single abdominal sponges to Australian hospitals. 60% of these sponges were made from 100% cotton.

If all our customers currently using 100% cotton sponges were to use the equivalent sized composite sponge instead, the combined ongoing annual benefit from this simple change would be:

The environmental benefits from making this small change are not big, they are huge!

There is no change to clinical practice or negative impacts to clinical performance from choosing to use a Composite Sponge instead of a Cotton sponge. In fact, our tests have shown our Composite Sponge delivers a small improvement in absorbency compared to our Cotton Sponge.

Our Composite Sponges are no more expensive than our traditional 100% Cotton Sponges. They provide customers with better value for money, as each improvement made delivers more benefit at no additional cost.

View our Sponge range.

Disclaimers, calculations & assumptions:

LCA information presented is from an internal Multigate study, commissioned by Multigate and produced by Lifecycles (https://www.lifecycles.com.au). The information is protected by copyright and cannot be replicated without written permission from Multigate. Multigate LCA information is not comparable with other LCAs, however it is comparable with other Multigate LCA’s created by Lifecycles that share the same methodology, database reference source and version, assumptions etc.

Multigate is committed to providing customers with accurate, up-to-date LCA information on our products so they can make better informed purchasing decisions. These LCA figures were last updated on 7 June 2022, utilising the latest external LCA database information (ecoinvent V3.8 and AusLCI used), product data and other information available at the time. This LCA data is reviewed and if required updated annually, or more frequently as required.

Estimated annual greenhouse gas and water usage reduction savings are based on our 2021 sales volumes which has a mix of sponge sizes.  EOL method used is 50% Disinfect & Landfill and 50% Incineration, to reflect the two most common EOL methods by different hospitals.

* Based on 30x30cm sponge and EOL method Disinfect & Landfill. Saving benefit if using EOL method Incineration is estimated at 16% and 44% respectively.

^ Based on an average Australian petrol passenger car that uses 11.1L/100km and travels 11,067km year (abs.gov.au 2020) and Petrol EF of 2.38 kgCO2e/L (industry.gov.au 2021), we calculate emission generated at 0.26418 kgCO2e/km travelled and 2,923.68 kgCO2e per car/per year.

# Based on Olympic swimming pool volume of 2,500,500L based on official minimum dimensions of 50m long x 25m wide by 2m deep (phinizycenter.org/olympic-swimming-pools). Average shower = 55L (mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/water-volumes-teacher-notes.pdf.)

SmartTab^® Dressing Packs

Product Overview and Challenge

Dressing packs play an important part in improving Aseptic Technique as they provide a standardised approach to wound care.  Our design team spent many hours reviewing the different types of dressing packs available, observing how they were being used in the field and identifying potential areas for improvement. We learnt that one of the top concerns for nurses when performing a dressing change was to ensure the aseptic field remained aseptic as this was a potential source of infection.

Our Goal

Reduce the potential for cross contamination and infection by making it easier to use, promoting correct Aseptic Non Touch Technique (ANTT).

Small Change

Improvement in the design of the Aseptic Field and wrapping technique.

Big Impact

Accidental contamination of the Aseptic Field was one of the biggest concerns raised by nurses in our Dressing Packs study. SmartTab Dressing Packs help reduce the chance of Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs), which benefits both patients and healthcare providers.

Design improvements to the Aseptic Field including the introduction of tabs and changes to the unwrapping technique used to prepare packs for use, led to SmartTab Dressing Packs being assessed by The-ASAP as the first pack in Australia to officially support ANTT.

A dual coloured Aseptic Field and SmartTabs help users to identify safe to touch areas. This visual cues make the preparation of the Aseptic Field easier and reduce the chance of accidental cross-contamination during setup.

SmartTab Dressing Packs are the same price as our standard Dressing Packs. They provide customers with better value for money, as each improvement made delivers more benefit at no additional cost.

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