Rate of Glove Perforation in Open Abdominal Surgery and the Associated Risk Factors

Glove perforation is common during surgery. Surgical gloves are used as personal protective equipment to reduce infection risks from bloodborne pathogens for both the surgical team and patients. This research was conducted to determine the perforation rates of gloves worn in open abdominal surgery performed in a general surgery department and the risk factors affecting perforation. This research was designed as an observational prospective cohort study including 70 open abdominal operations. There were four members of the surgical team (surgeon, first assistant, second assistant, and scrub nurse). A total of 280 (70 × 4) pairs of gloves in 70 consecutive open abdominal procedures were included in this study. A total of 140 unused gloves were tested as control group to assess perforations and pre-existing leaks. After the operation, all gloves were checked for water impermeability using the EN455-1 method and the presence or absence of a puncture hole was recorded. Glove perforation was detected in 54.3% of operations. The rate of perforation in all gloves was 10.7%, of which 78% unnoticed by the surgical team during surgical procedure. It was determined that the puncture in the gloves was mostly on the non-dominant hand (left). For the left-hand glove, the highest number of holes was observed on the index finger (21.1%) and palm/dorsum of the hand (21.1%). The risk of glove perforation was 5.8 times greater for surgeons compared with the other team members, and operation time of 61 minutes or longer increased the risk of perforation by 12.77 times. Glove perforation rates are high in open abdominal surgery. The highest number of perforations occurred in the non-dominant hand (left) has a high rate of perforation in surgeons and long operations. It may be beneficial for surgical team members to change gloves at certain intervals during surgery or use indicator glove systems.