Objective:

To analyze the most recent evidence regarding the routine change of surgical instruments and gloves in abdominal surgery and its impact on the risk of infections.

Methods:

A literature search was conducted in the PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and MEDLINE databases.

Results:

To date, the evidence regarding the potential impact of routine changes in surgical instruments and gloves in abdominal surgery and their relationship with the incidence of surgical site infections is extremely scarce. Nevertheless, it remains a topic of interest in global surgery. The ChEETAh study, conducted in seven low and middle-income countries, which assessed the routine change of both gloves and surgical instruments in abdominal surgery and its relation to infection, demonstrated that the frequency of surgical site infection was 16% (n=931) in the intervention group compared to 18.9% (n=1280) in the control group (RR 0.87; 95% CI: 0.79 - 0.95; p=0.0032). Thus, there may be some additional protection with the routine change of gloves and instruments in abdominal surgery.

Conclusion:

Although the evidence is limited and heterogeneous, there is a trend suggesting a potential benefit in reducing the incidence of surgical site infections through the routine change of gloves and surgical instruments in abdominal surgery.