Guide to choosing examination gloves

Nitrile or latex, powdered or powder-free, which sizes to order for a practice of five people. A short guide based on the questions we are asked most often on the phone.

Nitrile or latex

Latex fits the hand best and gives the best sense of touch. It is the classic choice for delicate procedures. Its drawback is allergy to natural latex proteins, which affects both staff and patients.

Nitrile contains no natural latex, so it does not cause that allergy. It is more resistant to punctures and to some chemicals, which makes it suitable for the laboratory, for handling disinfectants and for areas where sharp instruments are used. The dark colour, usually black, is used where you don’t want dirt to show, and blue where you want to spot a puncture straight away.

Practical advice: if anyone on your team is sensitive to latex, switch the whole practice to nitrile. It is simpler than keeping two stocks.

Powdered or powder-free

Starch powder makes gloves quick to put on, but it gets into the air when they are taken off, can irritate the airways and can contaminate a laboratory sample or a sterile field. In today’s medical practice, powder-free gloves are the standard choice. Powdered gloves are still useful where gloves are changed very often and there is no risk of contaminating a sample.

Examination or surgical

Examination gloves are non-sterile and ambidextrous and are ordered in letter sizes from XS to XL. Surgical gloves are sterile and anatomical, with separate left and right hands, and are ordered by number: 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8. They are not interchangeable and the price difference is significant. For a routine consultation, an examination glove is enough.

Which sizes to order

For a small practice, the split that works in practice is roughly this: half the quantity in M, a quarter in S and a quarter in L. Order XS and XL only if you know someone wears them. If it is your first order, take one box of each size and only then place the large order.

What the box says and what it means

• EN 455, the European standard for single-use medical gloves: it checks for holes, tear resistance, biological safety and shelf life.
• EN 374, for protection against chemicals. Look for it if you work with concentrated disinfectants or reagents.
• CE marking, with or without the notified body number, depending on the product class.
• Batch and expiry date, required on the outer packaging.