Efficacy of double gloving as a protection against blood exposure in dermatologic surgery

Double gloving has been widely suggested as a means of decreasing exposure to blood and other body fluids. However, most dermatologists do not routinely follow this practice when performing surgical procedures because it reduces manual dexterity and increases costs. To determine whether double gloving should be routinely practiced in dermatologic surgery, pairs of sterile surgical gloves worn during weekly UCLA dermatologic surgery clinics were collected over a period of 3 months and examined for perforations. The procedures gloves were used for ranged from excision of benign lesions, lasting 15 minutes, to hair transplants, lasting 3 hours. Upon completion of the procedures, 8 (5.5%) of 144 pairs of single gloves, 2 (3.7%) of 54 pairs of double inner gloves, and 3 (5.5%) of 54 pairs of double outer gloves were found to have perforations. There were no instances of both the double outer and the double inner gloves having perforations when worn on the same hand. This suggests that double gloving offers a protective advantage by providing extra protection for both the surgeon and the patient during dermatologic surgery.