The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 72, Issue 6 914-917, Copyright © 1990 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Outer gloves in orthopaedic procedures. Cloth compared with latex
R Sanders, P Fortin, E Ross and D Helfet
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of South Florida, Tampa 33606.
A randomized prospective study was undertaken to determine the rate of
punctures of the inner glove when techniques of double-gloving were
employed for orthopaedic operations. Group I consisted of twenty-five
procedures in which double latex gloves were used, and Group II comprised
another twenty-five in which latex inner gloves and cloth outer gloves were
worn. As the outer glove was expected to act as a barrier against puncture
of the inner glove, only inner gloves were tested. All glove exchanges done
intraoperatively for presumed tears of the inner glove were noted, as were
punctures of the skin. The type and length of the procedure were also
documented. Group I (double latex gloves) had a significantly higher rate
of total inner-glove perforations per procedure (p less than 0.0001) than
Group II (cloth and latex gloves). Furthermore, unrecognized perforations
were significantly higher in Group I than in Group II (p less than 0.01).
In Group I, the number of punctures increased with the duration of the
operation; a puncture was found in all procedures in which the operation
lasted longer than three hours (p less than 0.01). In Group II, only two
tears of the inner glove occurred. Both were unrecognized and were
independent of the duration of the operation.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Technorati What's this?
