A comparison of the effect of different surgical gloves on objective measurement of fingertip cutaneous sensibility.
BACKGROUND
The prudent selection of surgical gloves can deliver significant efficiency savings. However, objective data are lacking to compare differences in cutaneous sensibility between competing gloves. Therefore, the present study examined the use of a single comparable model  of sterile surgical glove from two competing providers, Gammex PF HyGrip(®) (Ansell Limited, Red Bank, NJ, USA) with Biogel(®) (Mölnlycke Health Care AB, Göteborg, Sweden).


METHODS
Cutaneous pressure threshold, static and moving two-point  discrimination were measured as indices of objective surgical glove performance in 52 blinded healthcare professionals.


RESULTS
The mean cutaneous pressure threshold was 0.0680 ± 0.0923 g for skin, 0.411 ± 0.661 g for Ansell gloves and 0.472 ± 0.768 g for Biogel gloves.  Skin was significantly more sensitive than Ansell (P < 0.0001) or Biogel (P < 0.0001) gloves (Wilcoxon signed rank test). There was no statistical difference between Biogel and Ansell gloves (P = 0.359). There was no significant difference between static or moving  2-point discrimination of skin and Ansell gloves (P = 0.556, P = 0.617; Wilcoxon signed rank test), skin and Biogel gloves (P = 0.486, P = 0.437; Wilcoxon signed rank test) or Ansell and Biogel gloves (P = 0.843, P = 0.670; Wilcoxon signed rank test).


CONCLUSIONS
No demonstrable objective difference was found between competing gloves in the outcome measures of cutaneous sensibility and two-point discrimination. However, a difference in subjective preference was noted. Untested factors may underlie this discrepancy, and further research should employ  more sophisticated measurements of surgical performance using competing models of surgical glove.
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Foundation Trust, London, UK.
A
A
Bucknor
A
A
Karthikesalingam
S R
SR
Markar
P J
PJ
Holt
I
I
Jones
T G
TG
Allen-Mersh
D000328:Adult; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology*; D005932:Gloves, Surgical; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011312:Pressure; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D012867:Skin