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The dirt on flexible endoscope reprocessing
The dirt on flexible endoscope reprocessing
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Pennsylvania patient safety advisory
- Contributor(s):
- Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority.
Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
ECRI (Organization) - Publication:
- [Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, c2010
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Cross Infection -- prevention & control
Disinfection -- methods
Endoscopes -- standards
Equipment Contamination -- prevention & control
Sterilization -- methods
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- To avoid cross contamination of infectious pathogens, endoscopes and their associated accessories are cleaned and disinfected or sterilized (reprocessed) between each patient use. Failure to properly reprocess endoscopes and accessories could potentially expose patients to bloodborne pathogens and harmful bacteria, which may result in serious patient injury or death. Often, these exposures affect large numbers of patients who must be notified of the potential risk and may need to return to the facility for testing. Patient notification of endoscopy-related cross contamination or suspected contamination can be challenging when appropriate identifying information associating a specific endoscope with a specific patient is not captured. Between 2004 and 2009, the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority received 107 reports describing potential patient contamination due to inadequate or improper endoscope reprocessing techniques. Of the 107 reports, 62 made reference to potentially contaminated endoscopes being used on patients, while the remainder described potentially contaminated endoscopes getting to the patient (e.g., surgical field), but not used, or lacked information to determine patient involvement. To reduce the likelihood of cross contamination, healthcare facilities need to consider developing and adhering to comprehensive, model-specific reprocessing protocols.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101555820 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101555820