Surgeon's Glove Tears May Have Led to Staph Infections

MSNBC.com is reporting on a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who allegedly operated on patients with contaminated gloves, transmitting Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteria to five patients. The surgeon, whose name has not been released, wore gloves, but they developed microscopic tears, Cedars-Sinai said, allowing the infection-causing pathogens to pass to patients.

To read an article from the Los Angeles Times, CLICK HERE.

This news comes at a time when Cedars-Sinai announced that its surgical teams have reduced surgical site infections (SSIs) by more than 60 percent for patients who undergo colorectal procedures by introducing evidence-based protocols that are easy to follow and relatively low in cost. Surgeons, nurses, operating room staff and patients all collaborated in a quality improvement project that measured surgical site infection rates from March 2011 to March 2012. Several new steps were introduced to guard against infections and these have now been expanded and standardized throughout the hospital.