9 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8
Karl Storz |
Single-Use Intubation Scopes
No repairs, no mainte-
nance, no waiting for
disinfection. Just use it
once and throw it away.
That's the pitch from
Karl Storz, which
expects to launch its
new disposable intuba-
tion scopes in 2019.
They expect image qual-
ity, durability and feel to
be strong selling points,
as well.
We'll see. The image
quality and cost analysis
will be the keys, as far
as I'm concerned. It's
true the reusable scopes
tend to have a lot of
maintenance issues, and they do break. But will using disposables end
up being more expensive?
I think we also have to consider the environmental factor, especially
in relation to climate change. How much more will we contribute to
medical waste if we use disposables? Or will that be offset by the
effect that the chemicals we use to clean scopes have on the environ-
ment? It can be a tough balancing act.
My inclination would be to keep the disposables on hand for emer-
gencies only, unless I see more evidence that they're associated with
lower infection rates or are better in some other way.
