Glove powder increases Staphylococcus aureus abscess rate in a rat model

Glove powder is used as a lubricant on the inner surface of many surgical gloves to aid in donning. Although surgeons routinely wash or wipe their gloves to remove the powder, studies in patients have shown that, at the conclusion of operations in which powdered gloves have been used, the wound retains a substantial amount of residual powder granules. Furthermore, the amount of residual granules is in proportion to the number of gloves that the operating room staff wear. We determined whether glove powder in combination with Staphylococcus aureus when injected into the subcutaneous tissue of the dorsum of the rat would potentiate abscess formation.

We combined methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) in concentrations of 0, 10(2), 10(3), 10(4), and 10(5) colony forming units (cfu)/mL and starch powder in concentrations of 0, 10, 50, and 100 mg/mL and injected the inoculum into each flank of 105 Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were euthanized 7 to 10 days after inoculation and examined for signs of abscess formation. Wounds were cultured to verify S. aureus as the causative organism.

No abscesses formed in our control animals (sterile inoculum). Increasing concentrations of MSSA and increasing starch powder led to more-frequent abscess formation. The presence of high concentration of starch (100 mg/mL) decreased the inoculum of bacteria needed to produce an abscess from 10(4) to 10(2) cfu/mL. The presence of starch, regardless of concentration, increased the likelihood of abscess formation in the presence of bacteria (odds ratio = 1.8, 95% confidence interval = 1.06, 2.57).

Surgical glove power reduces the inoculum of bacteria needed to produce an abscess and increases the likelihood of abscess formation in Sprague-Dawley rats.