Background Surgical gloves can be damaged during the course of a procedure, which can place the surgeon and patient at risk. Glove perforation may not always be readily apparent, and determining the risk factors for glove perforation can aid the surgeon in deciding when a glove change is advisable. Time of wear and needle sticks have been well studied; however, other mechanisms including mechanical stress from surgical equipment have had limited evaluation to date. Questions/purposes We evaluated the risk of glove perforation in gloves that were caught in a surgical rotatory device (such as drills and reamers). The aims of our study were (1) to determine the percentage of undetected microperforations after entanglement on a rotatory tool during orthopaedic procedures, (2) to determine which kinds of rotatory devices most commonly cause such microperforations, and (3) to assess whether time of wear had an effect on the risk of perforation. Methods From July 2014 to September 2015, 33 gloves were obtained from all orthopaedic subspecialties at our Level I trauma center if they were caught in a rotatory device greater than one revolution. Time of glove wear and location of the glove that was caught in a rotatory device were recorded. After an evaluation for macroperforations (C 5 mm), the gloves were evaluated for microperforations (\ 5 mm) via the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) one-liter load test. Time of wear was compared among gloves with macroperforations, microperforations, and no perforations. Results The 33 gloves obtained came from 33 procedures. Seventeen of 33 (52 %) gloves had perforations. Seven of the 17 perforated gloves had macroperforations while 10 had microperforations. Eleven of 33 entanglements were caught by drills, nine by reamers, eight by Kwires, and the remaining five gloves were caught by various other instruments. Eight of 17 perforations were caused by drills, three by reamers, three by K-wires, and three by various other instruments. The average time of wear was 58 minutes which did not differ with pattern of glove damage.
Background: There is sparsity of data on outcomes following joint arthroplasty among polycythemia vera (PV) patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate postoperative outcomes following primary total knee (TKA) and hip (THA) arthroplasty among PV patients. Methods: A retrospective Medicare database review identified 6932 PV patients who underwent a primary total joint arthroplasty (4643 TKAs and 2289 THAs) from 2006 to 2013. A comparison of hospital length of stay, mortality, and the diagnosis of surgical site infections (SSIs), stroke, myocardial infarction, acute pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and other postoperative complications was made between PV patients undergoing TKA and THA and their respective matched control groups. Results: PV was significantly associated with increased rates of acute PE (2.3% vs 1.6%; odds ratio [OR] 1.44, 95% confidence interval [
Inappropriate transfers create a significant medical burden to our health care system using valuable resources. Our study found similar results of inappropriate transfers compared to previous studies. However, we did not find a relationship between insurance status or nights/weekends and transfer appropriateness.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.