Comparison of Postoperative Infection Rates After Office-based Oculoplastic Procedures Using Sterile and Clean Gloves

To compare postoperative infection (PI) rates using sterile and clean-boxed gloves in office-based oculoplastic procedures.

Prospective, comparative study of patients undergoing oculoplastic procedures by a single surgeon (RS) in an office-based procedure room between October 2018 and September 2020. Participants included were 18 years or older. Excluded were patients on oral antibiotics within 2 weeks before the procedure, had a follow-up period of less than 1 week, had a contaminated wound, had complex reconstructions, or had multiple simultaneous procedures performed. Oculoplastic procedures were performed using either sterile or clean-boxed gloves. The main outcome measure was the frequency of postoperative infection.

Three thousand one hundred twenty-nine patients, 1,815 (58%) of whom were women, with a mean age of 60 (18-102) years were included. One thousand five hundred seventy procedures were performed with sterile gloves, while 1,559 were performed with clean-boxed gloves. The patients in the 2 groups were similar in age, gender, and number of high-risk individuals. One patient in the sterile glove group who underwent upper blepharoplasty (0.064%) and one patient (0.064%) in the clean-boxed glove group who had an external levator advancement blepharoptosis repair developed PI. Neither patient had risk factors for infection, and both infections resolved after 1 week of oral amoxicillin-clavulanate 875/125 mg twice daily.

In minimally complex in-office oculoplastic procedures, using sterile versus clean-boxed gloves resulted in similar low infection rates in this large cohort. The healthcare benefits may not outweigh the costs of using sterile gloves universally for office-based oculoplastic procedures.