Needlestick injuries, glove perforation and round-tipped blunt needles

Abstract

We read with great interest the article by Battersby et al. [1] about the impairment of surgical knot quality due to double gloving. The practice to wearing two pairs of gloves during surgical procedures to reduce the risks of exposure to patient’s blood and transmission of infectious organisms has been recommended worldwide, by several healthcare authorities, also on the basis of a Cochrane review showing the absence of compromised dexterity as a result of double gloving [2]. The study performed by Battersby and Colleagues clearly shows that double gloving reduces the quality of surgical knots by 24%, no matter the suture type used. A wider reduction of knot quality (50%) was noted with 4.0 sutures. These results question the safety of surgical knots tied wearing double gloves and, as a consequence, push surgeons to consider other precautions to reduce bloody contamination during surgery ..