The microbiological and mechanical integrity of batch tested and individually tested surgical gloves

TL;DRAbstract

The most common surgical gloves used at the Royal Hobart Hospital are 'Individually Tested' (IT) gloves, in which each glove is tested for leaks by the manufacturer prior to sterilization and packaging. A cheaper brand of glove is available in which sample gloves from manufactured batches are tested for leaks (BT), but not each glove. The latter gloves were widely rejected by surgeons on the theoretical ground that there would be more perforations, and consequently more wound infection and greater exposure of staff to patient pathogens. However no objective study had been done to test this conjecture. The aims of this study were to compare the integrity of the two brands of gloves by mechanical and microbiological methods, and to compare the incidence of postoperative wound infection following the use of either brand. 110 unused gloves of each brand were tested for leaks. 318 IT and 278 BT gloves were then tested after clean surgery, for mechanical leaks. Scrub-team member's gloves and

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