Glove perforation time and frequency in total hip arthroplasty procedures

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate glove perforation rate and time and evaluate the factors affecting glove perforation in total hip arthroplasty (THA). Methods: Nine hundred seventy-nine gloves used in 57 THA procedures were assessed according to the perforation. Forty-four (77.2%) procedures were primary THA and 13 (22.8%) were revision THA. Gloves were changed when perforated, become dirty with blood or blood products, and before bone cementing. All gloves were filled with water at the end of the operation and controlled for perforation. Two hundred and one surgical gloves used during scrubbing and removed after draping the patient were examined as the control group. The location (which finger), number and time of the perforat ion, surgery type and duration, and distribution of the perforation location according to the surgical team were assessed. Results: Patients' mean age was 62.9±14.6 (range: 33 to 97) years and the mean surgery duration was 162.9±32.0 minutes. Thirty-two glove perforations were noted in 19 of the operations. Of these perforations, 28 belonged to the surgeons and first assistants. There was no significant difference between the dominant or non-dominant hand according to the location of perforations. Perforations in the firstand second fingers of the gloves accounted for 81.3% of all perforations. There was no significant difference in terms of number of gloves used, perforation numbers and operation duration between the primary and revision THA procedures. Two perforated gloves (0.99%) were found in the control group and the difference between the number of perforations in the control and study groups was significant (p=0.048). Conclusion: We recommend the use of two pairs of gloves to avoid the risk of contamination and protect the surgical team from infectious disease in major surgeries like THA. Surgical gloves should be changed when they are excessively contaminated with surgical fluids and the surgeon and first assis tant should also change their outer gloves at an average of every 90 minutes. © 2012 Turkish Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatology.