Effect of choice of surgical gloves on dough time measurements of acrylic bone cement

In this study we investigated the effect of the brand of surgical gloves on the dough time determination for acrylic bone cements. Four different brands of powder-free latex surgical gloves were tested. Two commercial bone cements, Surgical Simplex P and Palacos R, were used for dough time measurement following standard test methods for acrylic bone cements (ASTM F-451 and ISO 5833). The results show that the measured dough time depended largely on the brand of gloves used, and could vary by nearly 250%. The surface morphological structures of gloves, determined by SEM, probably contribute to the differences in the measured dough time. This study provides experimental evidence that supports the need to describe the type of gloves used, in detail, when dough time is reported. It also illustrates the importance of the glove brand, when bone cement is to be handled as a dough in the clinical setting.