Comparison of open and closed staff-assisted glove donning on the nature of surgical glove cuff contamination

Abstract

Background: We have observed that surgical glove cuffs commonly fold over during an operation, exposing the inside of the glove cuff to the sterile field and wound, a potential source of contamination if the inside of the glove cuff has been in contact with the fingers during glove donning. We hypothesize that open staff-assisted gloving results in more inside-glove cuff contamination than a closed staff-assisted technique.

Method: We performed a blinded, randomized study comparing open and closed staff-assisted glove donning. Two surgeons were gloved 20 times after covering their fingers and hands with GlitterBug powder. The gloves were turned inside out and the distance of GlitterBug powder from the free edge of the cuff was measured.

Results: Staff-assisted open glove donning was associated with significantly more glove cuff contamination than closed staff-assisted glove donning (P= 0.001).

Conclusion: Given glove cuff 'turn down' intra-operatively, we strongly recommend closed staff-assisted gloving.