A P R I L 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 1 3
Gone Wrong
Endoscope Reprocessing
T
he ceaseless wave of endoscope reprocessing mishaps
making headlines across the country has hammered
home the point that you can't reprocess a dirty scope.
Proper manual cleaning is a challenge under normal cir-
cumstances, but nearly impossible when you pressure
reprocessing techs to hurry up because a patient is waiting for his
procedure to begin, or if you expect techs to get scopes cleaned, dis-
infected and back in a procedure room in less than an hour.
Scope techs essentially work blindfolded — Here's a brush, now
remove the bioburden that you can't see inside the scope. They're
told to brush a scope's internal channels until the brush they're using
appears clean. Techs must rotate brushes 360 degrees as they clean
scopes' internal channels, but I haven't seen that attention to detail in
• BY DESIGN Difficult-to-clean duodenoscopes have been linked
to several deadly outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Dartmouth–Hitchcock
Medical
Center
Recent outbreaks shine light on the dirty truth about the
scope cleaning practices at facilities across the country.
Frank Myers, MA, CIC, FAPIC | San Diego, Calif.
