Glove Perforation Rate in Surgery: A Randomized, Controlled Study To Evaluate the Efficacy of Double Gloving

The risk of exposure of either the patient or the surgeon to communicable disease when the surgical glove is perforated is important. Both patients and the surgical team need to be protected from this risk. Therefore, we intended to determine the efficacy of double gloving in our center.

This was a prospective cohort study, involving (randomly selected) surgeons, who wore single or double latex surgical gloves during procedures. Gloves were collected and evaluated for perforations (using air insufflation and water leak methods).

A total of 1,536 gloves were collected (512 single gloves and 1,024 double gloves), with 78 of 512 gloves perforated, giving a rate of 15.2%. Perforation rate was 15.2% in single gloves, 14.4% in double gloves, 15.5% in emergency operations, and 14.3% in elective surgery. It was highest (30.8%) among registrars in training, particularly when doing any deep (16.0%) surgery. Glove perforation rate was highest (17.4%) among general surgery procedures as opposed to pediatric surgery (14.6%), urology (13.9%), neurosurgery (11.7%), and plastic surgery (10.6%), with (42.1%) index finger injury. In unused (control group) gloves, the rate of perforation was (0.8%). There was a substantial difference in the overall perforation rate between single and double glove sets (15.2% versus 14.4%) (X(2) = 1748, p < 0.0001). However, among the double set, total gloves [outer and inner set] analysis revealed a perforation rate of 27.5% (141 of 512). Of this set, the number of inner gloves that perforated as a result of a through and through puncture from outer to the inner gloves gave a rate of 1.17% (six of 512). Thus, the protection offered by double gloves was 98.83% (X(2) = 280.9, p < 0.0001) even if the outer gloves were perforated.

The use of double gloves has more than 90% protection to patient and the surgeon. Therefore, wearing double gloves should be encouraged in surgery.