Contamination of the surgeon's bare and gloved fingertips in cardiac operations

The surgeon's bare fingertips and the external surface of gloved fingertips were examined for contamination by bacteria during the course of 27 cardiac surgical operations. Following the surgical scrub, positive colony counts were obtained in 20 (74%) of bare fingertip impressions (median colony count 4 [inter-quartile range, IQR, 0-9)], while at the conclusion of surgery positive counts were obtained in 15 (55.6%) fingertip impressions (median count 1 [IQR 0-6]; range 0-247; paired Wilcoxon test p = NS). Furthermore, positive colony counts at the start of the operation were obtained in none of the gloved fingertip impressions and at conclusion of surgery in 17 (62.9%) of the gloved fingertip impressions (median count 2 [IQR 0-6] p = 0.0002). There was no significant relationship between the total colony count on gloved fingertip impressions and the length of surgery (Pearson's r = 0.17, p = NS). Contrary to expectations there was no significant increase in the colony count on the bare fingertips at the conclusion of surgery. Although there was an increase in the bacterial count on the surgeon's gloved fingertips, this increase did not correlate with the length of surgery.