[Regulatory aspects of disinfection of endoscopes]

The circular on the sterilization and the law of july 1, 1998 enact clearly that the medical devices that support steam sterilization must be sterilized with an organization of sterilization that ensure quality. Endoscope that enter normally sterile tissues should be subjected to a sterilization procedure before each use; if this is not feasible, they should receive high-level disinfection to destroy bacterial spores. The endoscope must be immersed for at least one hour in aqueous solution of 2% glutaraldehyde. This lengthened duration of processing must be integrate in the organization of medical department. The endoscopes not penetrating in a sterile cavity are disinfected with manual processing according to the protocol of the circular of april 1996, or with automated endoscope reprocessing machine. The different types of automated machine used to wash and disinfect endoscope must now answer to criterion concerning their design described in the circular of july 15, 1998. A significant work has to be made in hospitals to conform automated machine and procedure, to control the risk dependent with their use.