[Double gloving in reducing the interoperative risk of blood borne pathogens]

The potential for blood contact with skin puts operating room personnel at increased risk of exposure to hepatitis or HIV virus. One of the most common areas of contamination with infectious biological material is the hands and fingers due to failure of glove protection. There are varying opinions regarding the frequency of glove failure during orthopaedic procedures and the necessity of wearing two gloves for added protection. The authors performed a trial of 94 procedures involving 10 surgeons from Orthopaedic Department of Pomeranian Medical University from Szczecin, Poland to answer these questions. Outer-glove perforations occurred in 15% of the cases while inner-glove--in only 3.1% (p < 0.0001). In 5 cases there was an inner-glove defect without a corresponding outer-glove perforation. Both the duration of the operation longer than 2 hours and the type of the procedure (minor versus major) were associated with increased rates of perforation (p < 0.002 and p < 0.0007 respectively). From total amount of perforated outer-gloves, only 13 (28%) were changed by the surgeon during the operation. There was no statistically significant difference between latex and neoprene used as inner-gloves (p > 0.17) in failure rates. The authors conclude double gloving during orthopaedic procedures and changing the gloves every 2 hours may significantly reduce the operating room personnel's risk of exposure to blood borne pathogens.