Medical gown for facilitating access to a patients torso

Abstract

A medical gown for facilitating access to a patient's torso includes a garment shaped to be worn over the patient's torso. An aperture extends through the garment and is positioned to access a port into the patient's body. The aperture is closeable via fasteners such that a gap is left to accommodate a medical tube that is attached to the port. Indicia are included on portions of the garment on opposing sides of the aperture. The indicia serve an ornamental purpose and also facilitate the identification of the location of the aperture. The garment preserves its undisturbed ornamental appearance through careful orientation of the gap.

1 . A medical gown comprising:
 a garment shaped and configured to cover a torso of a patient, the garment comprising a main body and a flap, the main body having a bounding edge which surrounds an aperture, the flap being movable between a closed position and an open position with respect to the aperture, the flap being positioned over an outer surface of the garment when positioned in the closed position, the aperture being positioned and configured to provide access to a port inserted into the torso of the patient; and   a closure mounted to the garment, the closure being configured to secure the flap in the closed position, the closure comprising a plurality of snap buttons, each snap button of the plurality of snap buttons having a first mating member mounted to the main body of the garment adjacent to the bounding edge and a second mating member mounted to the flap of the garment adjacent to a perimeter of the flap, the first mating members of the plurality of snap buttons being evenly spaced from each other around the bounding edge, a spacing of the first mating members of the plurality of snap buttons being smaller than a width of the aperture, the spacing of the first mating members being sized and configured to accommodate a medical tube between adjacent first mating members of the first mating members of the plurality of snap buttons.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The medical gown of  claim 1 , wherein the main body comprises a connecting portion which is fixedly coupled to the flap, the first mating members of the plurality of snap buttons being evenly spaced around the bounding edge from a first end of the connecting portion to a second end of the connecting portion. 
     
     
         4 . The medical gown of claim  2 , wherein each of the first portion and the second portion of the garment comprises indicia, the indicia of the first portion being visually distinct from the indicia of the second portion. 
     
     
         5 . The medical gown of claim  2 , wherein the indicia of the first portion resembles an emblem. 
     
     
         6 . The medical gown of  claim 1 , wherein each of the first portion and the second portion of the garment comprises indicia, the indicia of the first portion being visually distinct from the indicia of the second portion.