Donning Gloves Before Surgical Gown Eliminates Sleeve Contamination

There are numerous studies in the literature that have recognized the importance of the glove-gown interface as a potential source of intraoperative bacterial contamination. It has been demonstrated that the methods with which one dons their surgical gown and gloves can alter the level of gown contamination. We hypothesize that donning undergloves before the surgical gown will decrease if not eliminate sleeve contamination.

We performed a comparative study to assess the differences in gown contamination between three different gown and glove donning techniques. Participants ranged in experience level from intern to attending. Each participant covered their hands with ultraviolet light disclosing lotion and then donned surgical gown and gloves with their preferred technique and with the proposed technique in a randomly assigned order. The gowns were then removed and analyzed under ultraviolet light for distance and quantity of sleeve contamination.

The gloves-first technique demonstrated zero contamination in all samples. This is significantly less than both closed and open staff-assisted techniques (P < .0001). All samples of closed and open techniques demonstrated some level of contamination. The distance of contamination on the right sleeve is significantly greater than the left sleeve (P < .0001).

The gloves-first technique demonstrates zero sleeve contamination throughout all samples, regardless of the experience level. We strongly recommend considering the use of this glove and gown donning technique as opposed to the currently accepted closed and open techniques in an effort to reduce gown contamination.