W
ith their long, narrow
lumens, right-angle bends
and mishmash of springs,
caps, valves and connection
sites where bacteria can
hide, flexible endoscopes might be the hardest instruments to clean.
Even if your techs diligently follow manufacturers' instructions and pro-
fessional guidelines for reprocessing, there's still a chance that viable
microbes and biologic debris could persist on your endoscopes. This
helps explain why there are more outbreaks of infection associated with
endoscopes than with any other reusable medical device. It also strongly
suggests that today's reprocessing guidelines and practices aren't suffi-
cient to curb increasing GI scope-related outbreaks.
Some are now calling for a radical shift in scope reprocessing from
high-level disinfection to steam sterilization. A leading proponent of
this shift is infection prevention expert William Rutala, PhD, MPH.
"Sterilization is the only way to unify reprocessing and reduce the
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O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5
A New Way to
Clean GI Scopes
Some are calling for a shift
in endoscope reprocessing
from high-level
disinfection to
steam sterilization.
z COILED AND SOILED Use of a
contaminated endoscope may lead
to patient-to-patient transmission
of potentially infectious pathogens.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
Dan O'Connor
Editor-in-Chief