Cleaning & Disinfection
The British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) has updated its ’Guidelines For Decontamination of Equipment for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy’, and these are available to download from the BSG website
One element of the new guidelines is that they contain no specific reprocessing instructions – users are referred to the instructions provided by the manufacturer as, in accordance with the Medical Devices Directive, CE marked reusable devices must all be supplied with comprehensive validated reprocessing instructions.
There is no change, however, to the three essential stages that ensure an endoscope is decontaminated:
i) Mechanical cleaning
in detergent solution
ii) Disinfection
iii) Rinsing |
 |
For Olympus flexible endoscopes, fully detailed reprocessing instructions are provided in a separate book from the operation instructions, and these should always be followed to ensure effective decontamination. The ten basic stages of decontamination are summarised below:
1. Take a secure hold of the endoscope and wipe down the insertion tube with a soft cloth or gauze square.
2. Use the appropriate blue air/water channel cleaning adaptor (MB-107 or MH-948) to flush with water then air for at least 10 seconds.
BLOCKAGES: Should a freshly formed blockage be found, use the appropriate blockage removal device immediately (KeyMed’s special channel flushing valve or MH-946/944 channel irrigator).
3. Attach the suction cleaning adaptor (MB-19 or MH-856) and suck detergent through the suction/biopsy channels.
|
4. Remove all valves, caps, hoods and suction levers and clean separately. With video scopes attach waterproof cap over the electrical contacts. At this stage carry out the leakage test.
5. Use the port cleaning brush (MH-507) to clean the biopsy and suction port openings and also carefully clean the distal end of the endoscope. |
 | 6. Pass the cleaning brush through:
| a) Biopsy port and down the insertion tube.
b) Suction port and down the insertion tube.
c) Suction port and down the umbilical tube. |
 |
NB: Clean the brush head each time it emerges from the endoscope.
7. Irrigate all channels, including elevator (raiser bridge) wire channel and auxiliary channel with:
a) Neutral Detergent.
b) Compatible disinfectant.
c) Clean water.
NB: Ensure adequate irrigation/contact times.
8. Dry the external surfaces of the endoscope. The use of an alcohol wipe is recommended to assist in the drying process.
9. Remove residual fluid from all channels, blow air through air/water channels and aspirate air through suction/biopsy channel. The use of a little 70% Ethyl or Isopropyl alcohol prior to blowing/aspirating air is recommended to assist in the drying process.
10. Hang scope in a ventilated cupboard.
NOTE : All channels of all endoscopes must be reprocessed during each reprocessing cycle even if the channels were not used during the patient procedure. Please refer to our 10 point cleaning card |
