What is the preferred method of gloving due to its lower contamination risk?

The preferred method of gloving due to its lower contamination risk is closed gloving.

Closed gloving is performed while wearing a gown, which helps to minimize the risk of contamination during the process. This technique involves the surgeon or surgical assistant only touching the inner surface of the glove, which is not exposed to the outside environment until the gloving process is complete. As a result, the risk of microbial transmission from the hands or surgical attire is significantly reduced.

Open gloving, while useful in certain contexts, exposes the outer surfaces of the gloves to contamination, as it does not involve a sterile gown. Therefore, while open gloving can be appropriate in some non-surgical situations, it does not provide the same level of sterility as closed gloving, particularly in the operating room where maintaining a sterile field is critical for patient safety.

Double gloving is a technique used to enhance protection and reduce the risk of glove perforation but does not inherently minimize contamination risk during the donning process itself. Reinforced gloving refers to a specialized technique where extra protection is needed, such as during certain complex surgeries, but again may not focus specifically on contamination risk during gloving.

Overall, closed gloving is the method associated with the lowest contamination risk because