We need a better sanitization solution when it comes to cleaning surgical scopes and other medical devices. Or, better yet, we must create smarter scope design that incorporates disposable components to these devices – because the current system is just unsustainable as hospital-acquired infections continue to rise.
The recent wave of superbug infections stemming from contaminated scopes has led to researchers to study how safe they are in general. The findings have been disturbing across the board. In examining a regulatory database on reported bacterial contamination of scopes, the LA Times points in a new article out that repeatedly, scopes transfer bacteria among patients despite disinfection.
The article points out a study by University of Manitoba researcher Michelle Alfa who tested already-cleaned scopes for traces of blood and protein – and found that 9 percent of gastroscopes, 7 percent of colonoscopes and 4 percent of bronchoscopes had potentially infectious material. And a 2013 British Medical Journal article found that 15 percent of endoscopes used in the stomach, colon and duodenum were contaminated despite careful cleaning. As Forbes said in an article earlier this year, this is why it’s quite likely to pass along infection during even routine exploratory procedures:
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The problem is that it is extremely difficult to remove 100% of microbes due to the intricate design of endoscopes. Regardless of how strong any sterilant or disinfectant is, the narrow channels and ports are hard to reach and the debris trapped in those places can harbor germs as dangerous as CRE through multiple uses and cleaning cycles. The complex and tedious process used to “clean” scopes consumes over half an hour of labor and requires up to 43 steps to merely reduce – but not eliminate – the risk of one person infecting another.
Adapting existing scopes – which are costly devices, no doubt – so they have a disposable component would be the best fix, if challenging to achieve. Because the current cleaning process isn’t cutting it – these superbugs in particular can be hardy creatures. The new wave of scope design should keep the regions that come in contact with a patient’s body covered with a sheath to protect the patient from illness each time.
A 2012 Scandanavian study found that disposable scopes are, as expected, costlier than using reusable devices – which is likely why hospitals are reticent to adopt this sort of technology.
The FDA recently tightened up guidelines for medical device warning labels in the wake of the UCLA superbug scare. And regulators told the LA Times that the scopes currently on the market are safe.
“The risk of acquiring an infection from an inadequately reprocessed medical device is relatively low given the large number of such devices in use,” FDA spokeswoman Jennifer Dooran told the LA Times.
But hospital-acquired infections are pretty rampant, and curbing its spread from scope use is important. The CDC reports that in 2011, there were 722,000 hospital-acquired infections and of that figure, 75,000 died.
