Surgical Glove Compression Therapy

Surgical gloves are inexpensive, widely available, technically simple, and already used clinically for infection prevention. Prior studies reported that wearing surgical gloves reduced grade 2 or higher neuropathy during nab-paclitaxel treatment. The intervention requires wearing two layers of tight-fitting surgical gloves, one size smaller than normal fit, from 30 minutes before to 30 minutes after oxaliplatin infusion. Zhang et al reported reduced neuropathy with compression in oxaliplatin-treated patients, but the study was limited by a single-centre design, a small sample of 60 patients, and no long-term follow-up. A double-blind glove trial by Kotani et al found no preventive effect, but its validity was undermined because participants could distinguish tight from normal-sized gloves. Surgical glove compression therapy is being studied for OIPN because peripheral circulation suppression has shown promise for preventing paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy.