Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

Shopping for Surgery - June 2015 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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ety of devices. While a syringe may be sufficient, I recommend finding a mechanical option since it's usually more effective. New independent devices can flush lumens with high-pressure water and/or detergent with the added convenience of being hands-free. These devices feature a variety of connector attachments that allow a tech to attach the lumen to the device that pushes high-pressured fluid through it for a set amount of time to ensure it's clean. Another afford- able option is water pistols, which work well for small facilities. These require a more hands-on approach from the tech since they need to depress the trigger to flush the lumen, but deliver a similar outcome. For even more thorough cleaning, instruments can be placed into an ultrasonic washer following manual cleaning. While expensive, ultra- sonic washers are able to remove fine debris that might be difficult to remove during manual cleaning. New ultrasonic cleaners feature 1 1 6 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 | J U N E 2 0 1 5 Sometimes, lumened instruments are just too difficult to clean, even if you follow the correct process. For example, AORN recommends the use of disposable ophthalmic instruments with cannulas when possible since the tiny lumens can be a risk. While I advocate minimizing waste, consider disposables for items like tiny plastic tubing that are too hard for busy techs to properly reprocess. Another common problem I see is facilities that reprocess first-generation laparo- scopic instruments, which don't come apart and are difficult to clean. I often see these instruments sent out for repair that, when taken apart, are caked with debris that's been missed for weeks or even months. If your docs are using these first-gener- ation instruments, I strongly suggest considering new models that are designed to come apart for easy cleaning. — Donna Swenson BS, CRCST, CHL, ACE WHEN CLEANING ISN'T ENOUGH When to Consider Other Options

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