Imc. Macintyre et al., REDUCING THE RISK OF VIRAL TRANSMISSION AT OPERATION BY ELECTRONIC MONITORING OF THE SURGEON PATIENT BARRIER, British Journal of Surgery, 81(7), 1994, pp. 1076-1078
A new electronic device designed to detect glove holes, wet gowns and
glove permeability was assessed during 50 general surgical operations.
The cause of each alarm was recorded and the surgeon's awareness any
breach noted. Some 266 alarms were recorded of which 45 were ascribed
to glove holes, 86 to wet gowns, 115 to glove porosity and 20 to other
causes. Glove holes occurred in 29 of the 50 procedures; the surgeon
was unaware of the hole in almost 70 per cent of cases. Holes were mor
e common in laparotomy than in laparoscopic procedures (P=0.006). In 2
0 per cent of instances surgeons did not respond immediately to the al
arm (median delay 16 min). Six of eight surgeons who used the device i
ndicated that they would do so regularly for major abdominal surgery.
The electronic system accurately detects breaches in the surgeon-patie
nt barrier. Its use should improve surgical discipline in acting to re
store the barrier, protecting patient and surgeon alike.