Sterile Versus Nonsterile Gloves During Mohs Micrographic Surgery: Infection Rate is not Affected

Abstract

Our study lends support to the contention that clean, nonsterile gloves are safe and effective for use in the tumor extirpation phase of MMS, at a significant cost savings.

Prospective study of wound infections in Mohs micrographic surgery using clean surgical technique in the absence of prophylactic antibiotics

“…6,7 More recently, 3 studies have illustrated that this low rate of SSI is achievable without the use of prophylactic antibiotics, finding SSIs in 0.7%, 1.47%, and 1.8% of dermatologic surgeries. [8][9][10] When comparing these studies, each has its own surgical protocol to prevent infection. This variation can also be found when comparing the practices of Mohs surgeons.…”

Surgeon's garb and infection control: What's the evidence?

“…In studies looking at wisdom tooth extraction and central venous catheter servicing, sterile glove use did not result in lower infections versus patients treated with clean-boxed gloves. 30,31 The low incidence of infections demonstrated in the study of Rhinehart 28 or epidemiologic studies or theoretical rationale. Many items of surgeon's garb date to early part of last century.…”

Microbial contamination of procedure gloves after opening the container and during exposure in the environment

“…In the chain of transmission, the health workers' role represents a challenge that has been historically recorded in national and international literature (15) . The health worker's hands are recognized as one of the main elements in the chain of transmission.…”

“…Studies (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(14)(15)18) have shown that researchers correlate latex procedure gloves with sterile gloves in cases of infection, and there appears to be no correlation as long as manufacturing, maintenance, and use policies are preserved. Although procedure gloves host bacteria, it appears they are not sufficient to trigger infection when used in the various health care procedures.…”

“…It should be stressed that the workers seldom disinfected their hands before donning the gloves (15)(16) . Although this variable was not evaluated in this study, the non-systemized observations revealed that a considerable part of the workers did not disinfect their hands, though there was alcohol gel and sinks in strategic locations.…”