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eposable instruments, which are labeled for a limited
number of uses, occupy the middle ground between dis-
posables and reusables. Their limited-use lifespans are
cost-effective and eco-friendly choices that won't jeopard-
ize quality surgical outcomes, giving you lower-cost, eco-
friendly options for filling your ORs with high-performing tools.
Surgeon-approved
The first reposables hit the market more than a decade ago, says Guy
Voeller, MD, FACS, professor of surgery at the University of
Tennessee Medical Center in Memphis. Most of the laparoscopic ORs
at the medical center house reposable graspers, trocars, scissors and
retractors, says Dr. Voeller, who points out some facilities do a better
job than others in getting the instruments into regular rotation, mostly
because some surgeons are more agreeable than others in using them.
General surgeon Alexander Rosemurgy, MD, director of the Surgical
Digestive Disorders and GERD Center at Florida Hospital in Tampa,
believes the quality of reposable instruments is more than adequate
for multiple uses. The scissors he uses, for example, are always sharp
and cut well.
"The clinical performance is how most surgeons judge these instru-
ments," says Dr. Rosemurgy. "That they're used shows they perform
well, that they're comparable to conventional options."
Ophthalmologist Richard J. Ruckman, MD, FACS, physician-owner
of the Center for Sight in Lufkin, Texas, used diamond paracentesis
and trapezoid incision blades for years before transitioning to repos-
able steel versions approved for 15 uses. In addition, the manufacturer
of his phacoemulsification machine labels the unit's phaco tip for 30
uses, and the infusion sleeve and reusable tubing set for 20 uses, lifes-
pans he says each item holds up for very well.
M A T E R I A L S M A N A G E M E N T
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