Cloth skull caps may prevent operating room contamination better than can disposable caps or bouffant hats in an operating room, new data showed.

Surgeons for years have stepped into operating rooms wearing their surgical cap. But a crackdown appears to be underway on that almost sacred piece of headgear.

Members of the Alpha Iota Chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa Sorority recently donated 140 surgical caps to the Maynard’s Children’s Hospital at Vidant Medical Center.

The use of surgical jackets and bouffant caps in the operating room do not lower the risk of patients developing surgical site infections, according to a study published in JAMA Surgery.

The Sew CAPtivating surgical cap program, launched about 14 years ago, provides every child scheduled for a procedure a chance to choose a special surgery cap to wear and keep as a memento.