Prevalence of Surgical Glove Perforation in Orthopedic Surgery at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital: An Observational Study

Abstract

Introduction: Gloves provide a physical barrier preventing cross-infection between the operating team members and the patient. However, there is always a chance of the gloves perforating and breaching this barrier. This study attempts to understand the prevalence of perforation of surgical gloves in orthopedic surgery at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.
Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study carried out over three months. Gloves from the chief and first assistant surgeons were checked for visible perforation and occult perforation by water leak test. The type of surgery, hand dominance, duration of surgery, time during surgery when perforation occurred, and area of glove perforation were noted. Operative perforation rate, Overall glove perforation, and Operative perforation based on type of surgery, and duration of surgery were calculated. The categorical variables obtained were summarized with frequency and percentage.
Results: A total of 166 cases were included in the study. The operative perforation rate was 79 (47.59%; 95% CI: 39.80-55.47%) and the overall glove perforation was 117 (8.81%). Trauma surgery was the most common surgery performed during this study 111 (66.86%) and 56 (50.45%) of trauma surgery cases had glove perforation. Glove perforation was noticed by 25 (43.85%) of chief surgeon during surgery, out of which 11 (44%) of it was between 0.5 to 1 hour. Similarly, 20 (50%) of assistant surgeon noticed glove perforation during surgery, out of which 9 (45%) of it was between 1 to 1.5 hour after starting the surgery.
Conclusions: Perforations of the surgical gloves was comparable to other published literature. Trauma surgery was the most common.