3. Visually
inspect
Small-diameter
borescopes serve as
your eyes on the
inside of scopes, a
way to examine the
channels for biobur-
den and internal
defects. Reprocessing
techs slide a durable
endoscopic camera into an endoscope's channels to examine the full
length of each lumen. The high-resolution camera at the tip of the
borescope captures clear, magnified images that are impossible to see
with the naked eye. Like ATP testing, borescopes can be used to spot
traces of tissue debris that could harbor microorganisms and jeopard-
ize patient safety or unseen minor scratches and cracks that could
negatively impact the function of the scope in the short term and, if
not addressed, can ultimately lead to major malfunctions and expen-
sive repair bills.
4. Maintain proper storage
After high-level disinfection, rinse the endoscope's channels with
water and perform a 70% alcohol flush to dry the channels. Remove
suction valves and biopsy port covers — but keep them with the
scope from which they were removed — before hanging the scopes
in a storage cabinet to allow internal channels to air dry. Traces of
water left in endoscope channels after high-level disinfection could
lead to the growth of microorganisms during storage. Cabinets
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 2 5
• BRUSHING UP Manual cleaning is subject to human error, so put policies in
place that check the work of your reprocessing techs.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
