Surgical gloves' perforation rate and its associated factors in three Tunisian surgical departments

Abstract

Abstract Background Surgical teams rely on gloves as a barrier that can prevent transmission of microorganisms from the practitioners to the patient and from patient to surgical team. However, holes and micro-perforations may occur in gloving material exposing both patients and surgical team members to several complications. This study aimed to investigate the gloves' perforation rate and the factors associated with glove defect. Methods It is descriptive cross-sectional study. It was spread over a period of 3 months (January-March 2017) and was conducted at the University Hospital of Sahloul-Sousse (Tunisia) in three different surgical departments (urology, maxillofacial and general and digestive surgery). A data collection sheet was used by the researchers to collect data about the intervention and the surgical teams such the type and the duration of the intervention and the type of gloves used by the surgical teams. The post-surgery gloves were collected and tested to detect perforations using the water-leak test as described in the European Norm “NF EN 455-1”. For percentage comparison, the chi-square test was used with a significance threshold of 5%. Results A total of 284 gloves were collected from 36 procedures. Of these, 47 were found to be perforated with a perforation rate of 16.5%. All perforations were unnoticed by the surgical team members. The majority of perforated gloves (61.7%) were collected after urology procedures (p = 0.00005), 77% of perforated gloves were detected when the duration of the procedure exceeded 90 minutes (p = 0.001), and 96% of gloves were from brand A, which were the thicker gloves (p = 0.015) Conclusions This study highlighted an important problem neglected by the surgical teams, despite the risks that it can generate and its potentially severe consequences. In light of this study, we recommend systematic double-gloving and frequent changing of gloves to prevent the gloves' perforation and reduce its risks. Key messages Surgical teams must be aware of the importance of the problem of gloves perforation. The findings reaffirm the importance of double-gloving and changing gloves in surgeries of more than 90 minutes duration.