Abstract: An absorbent surgical dressing comprising an envelope of hydrophobic fabric with an absorbent pad arranged within it is disclosed. The dressing of the present invention excludes the possibility of secondary lesions being caused to the wound or injury. For this purpose the internal pad forming the absorbent pad is kept loose, so as to allow slight movement of the pad in the flexible envelope tube thereby dissipating the shearing forces acting on the envelope fabric. Moreover, to obviate the secondary lesions from occurring on the wound, the loose threads at the longitudinal ends of the surgical dressing are closed by welding and severed. A process for the manufacture of the surgical dressing meeting these requirements is also disclosed.