INTRODUCTION Many surgeons will have encountered the scissors that would not cut, and the artery clip that comes off in a deep difficult location, but it would be reasonable to assume that new instruments should be of assured quality. This study reports the surprising findings of a local quality control exercise for new instruments supplied to a single trust. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between Jan...

BACKGROUND Reduction of accidental contamination of the near-patient environment has potential to reduce acquisition of healthcare-associated infection(s). Although medical gloves should be removed when soiled or touching the environment, compliance is variable. The use of antimicrobial-impregnated medical gloves could reduce the horizontal-transfer of bacterial contamination between surfaces. ...

OBJECTIVE Evaluate pre- and intraoperative practices adopted by medical and nursing teams for the prevention of surgical infections. METHOD A prospective study carried out in the period of April to May 2013, in a surgical center of a university hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. RESULTS 18 surgeries were followed and 214 surgical gloves were analyzed, of which 23 (10.7%) had postoper...

tems utilize multisensory information including force and torque signals, or specialized sensor-gloves that capture hand gestures during the performance of a laparoscopic task. The signal data obtained are modeled with advanced computational techniques, such as Hidden Markov and Multivariate Autoregressive Models, in order to generate an assessment index based on the data collected. These metho...

OBJECTIVES The use of latex gloves has increased by several folds in the recent past due to concerns about blood-borne infections. Data from Asian countries with regard to latex allergy is scarce. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of latex allergy among healthcare workers in a tertiary hospital in Sri Lanka. MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-sectional sur...

The study by Hartley and colleagues confirms the high rate of glove punctures that occurs during general surgical procedures (1). Most glove punctures are not immediately recognised; therefore, they pose a risk for prolonged cutaneous exposure to blood and, thus, to blood-borne disease that can be transmitted from patient to surgeon (2). Relatively few interventions in randomised clinical trial...