Korean J Gastrointest Endosc.  2001 Jun;22(6):393-398.

Disinfection Efficacy of Glutaraldehyde and an Automated Endoscope Reprocessor: an In-Use Evaluation

• Lee JH
• Rhee PL
• Choe WH
• Hong IC
• Ahn BH
• Song JH
• Lee NY
• Yoon SW
• Kim YH
• Son HJ
• Kim JJ
• Koh KC
• Paik SW
• Rhee JC
• Choi KW

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Safety of endoscopic procedures has been a major issue over the last 10 years. Most endoscopy units use 2% glutaraldehyde and automated endoscope reprocessors (AERs) for disinfecting gastrointestinal endoscopes. We attempted an in-use evaluation of the current reprocessing procedures.
METHODS
Thirty flexible endoscopes were randomly collected just after upper endoscopic examinations and were disinfected using 2% glutaraldehyde in an AER. Cultures were taken from biopsy channels (S-1), tip of the insertion tubes (S-2), umbilical cords (S-3), and angulation knobs (S-4).
RESULTS
In 63.3% (19/30) of endoscopes, there was no microbial contamination after disinfection procedures. The culture positive rates of S-1, S-2, S-3, and S-4 samples were 20.0%, 0.0%, 3.3%, and 20.0%, respectively. Microorganisms of 13 species were identified, but there was no pathogen related with reported infectious complications after endoscopic procedures.
CONCLUSIONS
Current disinfection procedure using 2% glutaraldehyde and an AER appears to be very effective in decontaminating patient-used endoscopes. Low level microbial contamination of endoscopes after conventional reprocessing methods may not impose great risk on patients.

Keyword

Endoscopes; Glutaraldehyde; Automated endoscope reprocessor; Disinfection

MeSH Terms

Biopsy
Disinfection*
Endoscopes*
Endoscopes, Gastrointestinal
Endoscopy
Glutaral*
Humans
Umbilical Cord
Glutaral