An Unmet Need: Surgical Gloves with Variable Finger Lengths

Methods: A multiquestion confidential electronic survey of glove finger length fit was sent to 6810 plastic surgery glove wearers from three organizations: American Society of Plastic Surgeons, International Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Nurses, and Association of Plastic Surgery Physician Assistants. Data were collected for this descriptive study in 2020-2021, and statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (version 27). Sample gloves from six brands were directly measured for finger length.

Results: The survey yielded 500 responses, with some respondents not answering all questions. The response rate from American Society of Plastic Surgeons members was 8.2%, and was 7.3% from all groups combined. The most common reason for glove finger length dissatisfaction was fingers being too long (41.61%). Although there was variation in measured glove finger lengths, the variation was not uniform. Of all responders, 28.6% were very likely, and 16.16%, moderately likely, to want to use gloves with longer or shorter fingers if available, constituting a total of 44. 76%. Of these, 36.55% would pay increased cost (10%-25%) for such gloves.

Conclusions: A high percentage of glove users would want gloves with variable finger lengths. Current surgical gloves do not support hand anatomy variations.