Evaluation of surgical glove integrity during surgery in a Brazilian teaching hospital

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a large university hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil to evaluate surgical glove integrity after use during surgery.

This 6-month study was conducted by a gastroenterological, cardiovascular, and pediatric surgical team consisting of surgeons (main surgeon and first and second assistants), medical students, and scrub nurses. The gloves used during surgery were examined postsurgery for microperforations using the watertight test as described in European Norm EN 455-1.

A total of 116 medical professionals conducted the 100 surgeries monitored. Of the 1090 gloves analyzed, 131 (12%) had a perforation detected postsurgery, 39 of which (37.5%) were recognized by users at the time of occurrence. The highest incidence of perforations occurred among surgeons (P = .033) in the index finger, followed by the thumb of the nondominant hand; in outer gloves (76.9%) when double-gloving was used (P = .014); in open surgery (P = .019); and in surgeries lasting ≥ 150 minutes (P < .05).

These findings reaffirm the importance of double-gloving, using a perforation indicator system, and changing gloves in surgeries of ≥ 150 minutes duration, especially in procedures involving open incisions.