Bacteria Free Is The Way To Be

Duodenoscopes have recently been in the news because this reusable tube has caused some bacterial infections. A duodenoscope is a type of endoscope that has a flexible tube and tiny camera on it. It is inserted through a patient’s mouth and goes deep enough so doctors can view the upper part of the intestines. Since duodenoscopes are more complex than regular endoscopes, they are more difficult to clean and disinfect. An FDA advisory panel recently concluded these devices are unsafe.
In the United States there are about 500,000 procedures each year involving duodenoscopes. The FDA panel recently called for hospitals to completely sterilize the scopes before reuse. The problem with this is that the ethylene oxide gas required to sterilize these devices can be harmful to hospital employees. Using the gas also takes longer before the scope can be reused again. Olympus is one of the biggest suppliers of duodenoscopes in the United States and they have recently been inspected due to bacterial outbreaks in hospitals in Seattle, L.A., and Chicago. The FDA recently issued a Safety Communication on this issue and stated, “The communication raised awareness that transmission of infections associated with duodenoscopes has occurred even when manufacturing reprocessing instructions were followed properly and that the complex design of duodenoscopes may impede effective cleaning.” Some people believe that these regulations could spread to other parts of the industry. The challenges of cleaning these complicated devices are a current issue in hospitals and more regulations will come about in the next few months.