niversity Medical Center New Orleans is the first facility in New Orleans to use a minimally invasive device designed to improve blood flow for severely ill patients during complex and high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures intended

Powdered gloves used for everything from surgery to patient exams have been now banned, a result that Robert Zura, MD, Professor, and Chair of Orthopaedics at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine has worked to achieve since his undergraduate days. The Food and Drug Administration published the final rule of the ban, which also includes absorbable powder for lubricating a surgeon’s glove, on December 19, 2016.

As an undergrad, Zura was part of a team led by his mentor, Dr. Richard Edlich, conducting research on the hazards of powder in wounds. Their findings, which were published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine, documented that in contaminated wounds, cornstarch enhanced the growth of bacteria and elicited exaggerated inflammatory responses as measured by wound sclerosis, or hardening.

“Using powdered medical gloves poses a risk to both patients and clinicians,” notes Zura, who also holds the Robert D’Ambrosia Chair of Orthopaedics at LSU Health. “In patients, aerosolization is a risk. During the donning of powdered gloves, minute particles fill the air. After donning, particles can continue to fall away from the gloves as the surgery proceeds. In addition, powdered gloves have been identified as the largest single contributor to latex aeroallergen levels in healthcare facilities. Powder also heightens latex sensitivity, which affects an estimated 8 – 12% of health care workers. The powder can delay wound healing and contribute to such post-operative complications as adhesions, infections, and granulomas. The potential risks of powder to clinicians are clear as well: it contributes to compromised skin health and Irritant Contact Dermatitis (ICD), which causes dry, itchy and irritated skin.”

Dr. Richard Edlich’s research underpinned a decades-long effort to do away with the powdered gloves. Along with Edlich and others, Zura also co-authored citizen petitions to the FDA encouraging a ban, along with editorials, letters, and reviews providing further evidence of their harm. These papers were published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine, the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, and Annals of Plastic Surgery.

“The FDA ban is the right thing to do to help make the operating room safer for patients and clinicians,” Zura concludes. “Though Dr. Edlich is not here today to witness it, the FDA’s action is a fitting tribute to the man who so tirelessly advocated and worked to eliminate powder. A mentor to many and a vigorous patient advocate, Dr. Edlich’s work and memory lives on as the industry now moves to a powder-free future.”

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LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana’s health care professionals. The state’s most comprehensive health sciences university, LSU Health New Orleans includes a School of Medicine, the state’s only School of Dentistry, Louisiana’s only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu,http://www.twitter.com/LSUHealthNO or http://www.facebook.com/LS