Investigation of Incidence and Risk Factors for Surgical Glove Perforation in Small Animal Surgery

Abstract

To identify incidence and risk factors for surgical glove perforation in small animal surgery. Observational cohort study. Surgical gloves (n = 2132) worn in 363 surgical procedures. All gloves worn by operative personnel were assessed for perforation at end-procedure using a water leak test. Putative risk factors were recorded by a surgical team member. Associations between risk factors and perforation were assessed using multivariable multi-level random-effects logistic regression models to control for hierarchical data structure. At least 1 glove perforation occurred in 26.2% of procedures. Identified risk factors for glove perforation included increased surgical duration (surgery >1 hour OR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.12-2.86), performing orthopedic procedures (OR = 1.88; 95% CI = 1.23-2.88), any procedure using powered instruments (OR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.21-3.09) or surgical wire (OR = 3.02; 95% CI = 1.50-6.05), use of polyisoprene as a glove material (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.05-2.39), and operative role as primary surgeon (OR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.35-2.98). The ability of the wearer to detect perforations intraoperatively was poor, with a sensitivity of 30.8%. There is a high incidence of unrecognized glove perforations in small animal surgery.