Glove Resistance to Degradation by Bone Cement (Methylmethacrylate)

Cardinal Health surgical gloves continue to provide excellent barrier protection when used with bone cement (methylmethacrylate). This was demonstrated by water leak testing samples of gloves used in preparing and handling the bone cement under simulated use conditions.

Bone cement is an acrylic substance that allows seating and fixation of prostheses to bone. It is indicated for use in arthroplastic procedure of the hip, knee and other joints to fix plastic and metal prosthetic parts to living bone when reconstruction is necessary because of osteoarthritis, nonunion of fractures of the neck of the femur and secondary severe joint destruction following trauma or other conditions.

It is typically made up of methylmethacrylate copolymer and compounds which are added to make it radiopaque. When the powder (copolymer) and liquid (monomer) are mixed, polymerization is initiated which then binds together the granules of polymer. As polymerization proceeds, a sticky dough-like mass is formed which can be molded for about 3 minutes before hardening.

Our Protegrity®, Ultrafree Max™, powder-free Duraprene™ and Esteem® surgical gloves were tested for resistance to degradation by bone cement. The bone cement was mixed according to the package insert instructions and kneaded until pliability began to decrease. The gloves were then tested for signs of degradation (i.e., pinholes) by using the 1000mL water leak test (ASTM D5151 "Standard Test Method for Detection of Holes in Medical Gloves"). Thirty-two samples of each glove type were tested, and pass-fail criteria were set at "pass on one, fail on two" leaks. All of the gloves tested passed.

This testing demonstrates that the gloves do not significantly degrade during simulated "in-use" and contact conditions with bone cement.