Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 5:24:100299.
doi: 10.1016/j.sipas.2025.100299. eCollection 2026 Mar.

Evaluating the impact of reusable gowns on postoperative infection rates in hand surgery

Frank Davis  1 , Oscar Atkinson  1 , Marwan El-Sayed  1 , Abdel Rahman Saad  1 , Riem Johnson  1
Affiliations

Evaluating the impact of reusable gowns on postoperative infection rates in hand surgery

Frank Davis et al. Surg Pract Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Historically, there have been concerns that reusable gowns may increase post operative infection rate, though more recent literature does not support this. The Sussex Orthopaedic Treatment Centre's (SOTC) hand unit introduced reusable gowns in hand surgery and evaluated infection rates before and after implementation. Their adoption could provide economic and environmental benefits for the NHS.

Methods: A retrospective analysis compared infection rates in 396 hand surgeries. A two month period of disposable gowns was compared with a two month period of reusable gowns.

Results: Infection rates were 1.58 % (3/190) pre-intervention and 1.94 % (4/206) post-intervention. All cases were managed with oral antibiotics, with no reoperations.

Discussion: This small study shows that our infection rates align with that of current literature that reusable gowns do not increase infection rates. Their environmental benefits support adoption, and addressing misconceptions is key to implementation.

Evidence level: 2b (Retrospective Cohort).

Keywords: Infection; Reusable; Sustainability.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References

    1. Wałaszek M.Z., Słowik R., Domański A., Wałaszek M.J., Różańska A., Kołpa M. Five-year analysis of surgical site infections in three orthopaedics and trauma wards under HAI-Net from the South of Poland in 2014–2018 considering the standardized infection ratio. Medicina (B Aires) 2022;58(5):682. doi: 10.3390/medicina58050682. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Mulhim F.A., Baragbah M.A., Sadat-Ali M., Alomran A.S., Azam M.Q. Prevalence of surgical site infection in orthopedic surgery: A 5-year analysis. Int Surg. 2014;99(3):264–268. doi: 10.9738/INTSURG-D-13-00251.1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shea K.G., Styhl A.C., King H.A., Hammons J., Clapp M. Surgical site infection reduction program. J Pediatric Orthopaedics. 2015;35(Supplement 1):S51–S54. doi: 10.1097/BPO.0000000000000549. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fuglestad M.A., Tracey E.L., Leinicke J.A. Evidence-based prevention of surgical site infection. Surgical Clin North Am. 2021;101(6):951–966. doi: 10.1016/j.suc.2021.05.027. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tucci G., Romanini E., Zanol0i G., Pavan L., Fantoni M., Venditti M. Prevention of surgical site infections in orthopaedic surgery: a synthesis of current recommendations. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2019;23(2):224–239. doi: 10.26355/eurrev_201904_17497. Suppl. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources