Surgical tape

Surgical tape is often white because it contains zinc oxide, which is added to help prevent infections.

Primitive surgical tape, or sparadrapum probably consisted of strips of cloth impregnated with some type of plaster or sticky gum, which was applied over gauzes or wound dressings to hold them in place.

Plaster casts over fractures were sometimes called "Spanish dressings" In the Middle Ages an Italian a description appears in the thirteenth century, where surgical tape was recorded as sparadrappo, although there were some variations of spelling.

The most common types are either fragile tape (such as paper, which tears easily) or tear-resistant (often fabric or plastic) and some of these may also be either waterproof or breathable or both water-resistant and partly-porous, allowing some limited passage of air and moisture.

A bandage should have appropriate adhesive power and be breathable and at the same time impermeable, easy to remove without irritating the skin and resistant to extreme temperatures, aging and solar radiation.