[Christmas article: Active fingers during manual disimpaction makes gloves permeable to smell]

This case report presents a 34-year-old surgeon, who had a six-hour faecal digital smell after 96 minutes of manual disimpaction. The surgeon used a double layer of sterile latex gloves and an additional layer of gynaecological gloves. He noted a distinct faecal digital smell on several occasions, and a colleague also confirmed the odour two hours after the disimpaction. Currently, surgeons tend to use the same pair of gloves during surgery, as long as they are visibly intact. This case report emphasises the need for glove change during long contaminated procedures in order to maintain glove integrity.