A recent scandal in the Veterans Administration hospitals that revealed the use of dirty endoscopes resulted in a number of veterans becoming infected with various disease, prompted a larger scrutiny of endoscopy instrument hygiene in US hospitals.
The study revealed that almost 15% of all endoscopy tools were contaminated with harmful bacteria. In some hospitals the percentage was as high as 30%, while in others it was as low as 3%.
The researchers have determined that the level of contamination of the endoscopes is unacceptable. In fact the majority of healthcare-associated outbreaks have been caused by contaminated medical devices.
A Patient's Association Survey in the UK spoke of "grave concerns about the quality of medical instrument contamination...."
What needs to be done, experts say, is to make sure that not only the cleaning protocol is followed but that it is improved.
One of the problems with the cleaning protocol is that the visual inspection done after cleaning and disinfecting of the instrument often fails to identify residual contamination.
One of the initiatives that could improve the picture, is the introduction of disposable endoscopes. They are being developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Berlin, Germany at this time. It would not only eliminate the laborious cleaning process, but also eliminate any possible contamination.
Source: MNT 6.10.13
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