[Sterile gloves are necessary in minor surgery]

The use of sterile gloves as part of asepsis during surgery goes back to the end of the nineteenth century, but now the preventive value of this measure during minor surgery is questioned. One randomized study showed no difference in wound infection rates whether sterile or nonsterile gloves were used for repair of uncomplicated lacerations of the skin. An observational and a retrospective study in minor dermatological surgery confirm that the use of sterile or nonsterile gloves makes no difference for excisions of tumours as long as no reconstructions of the skin are performed. However, in more complicated minor dermatological surgery, 80% less wound infections were observed when sterile gloves were used. In conclusion, the available evidence is too limited to change the recommendation to use sterile gloves for minor surgery.