Here are five things to know:
1. Postoperative infection rates following posterior lumbar spine fusion can be up to 9 percent.
2. Surgeons’ gloves are the culprit, carrying organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus from patients’ skin to their wounds.
3. The retrospective study divided 389 patients into two groups. Surgeons executed standard protocol during the procedure for 179 patients. For the other 210 patients, surgeons wore double gloves, removing the outer pair before picking up instrumentation. The study authors compared infection rates for one year post-operation.
4. The standard protocol group experienced a 3.35 percent rate of postoperative infection, while the double-gloved group experienced only a 0.48 percent rate of infection.
5. The authors concluded that removing the second layer of gloves is an inexpensive and easy way to decrease the risk of lumbar spinal fusion postoperative infection.
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