Cut-resistant protective gloves in pathology—effective and cost-effective

Abstract

Cutting injuries and needle-stitch injuries constitute a potentially fatal danger to both pathologists and autopsy personnel. We evaluated such injuries in a large German institute of pathology from 2002 to 2007 and analysed the effect of the introduction of cut-resistant gloves on the incidence of these injuries. In the observation period, 64 injuries (48 cutting injuries and 16 needle-stitch injuries) were noted in the injury report books. Most injuries were located at the non-dominant hand, preferentially at the index finger and the thumb. Around one fifths of the injuries were at the side of handedness. The average number of injuries per month was 1.22 for the 50 months prior to the introduction of cut-resistant gloves, more than seven times higher than after their introduction (0.158; 19 months; p < 0.001). Considering the medical and administrational costs of such injuries, cut-resistant protective gloves are an effective and cost-effective completion of personal occupational safety measures in surgical pathology and autopsy. We strongly recommend the use of such gloves, especially for autopsy personnel.

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“…Concordant with our results, two studies found that cut-resistant glove are very effective in preventing cut injuries [1,3].…”

“…Standard occupational safety measures should take into account that an infection of a patient might be unknown to both clinician and pathologist at the time of tissue examination [1]. Therefore, standard safety measures should be always taken.…”

“…Cutting injuries and needle-stick injuries could vary from harmless superficial wounds to deep lacerations. An additional danger associated with the handling of fresh or partially fixed human tissue is the danger of transmission of bloodborne diseases [1]. In this article, we evaluate the prevalence of hand-cut injuries among pathologists in four french university hospital anatomic pathology laboratories (Amiens university hospital, Cean university hospital, Lille university hospital and Rouen university hospital).…”

Occupational health risks of pathologists - results from a nationwide online questionnaire in Switzerland

“…Cut-resistant gloves, worn between conventional vinyl gloves, can protect users from cutting injuries [29]. Loss of sensitivity and dexterity are reasons for rejection of this protective measure [29-32,55].…”

“…Kevlar enhanced gloves have been shown to effectively prevent cutting injuries, but compliance in wearing these gloves is relatively poor [9,29-32]. …”