[Reuse of instruments for minimal invasive surgery--status and prospects]

The development of instruments for minimal invasive surgery (MIS) is moving in the direction of the miniaturization of mechanical components, a combination of multiple functions in a single instrument, and the introduction of new techniques, in particular those reducing bleeding and thermal damage when cutting blood vessels. These tendencies have consequences for the reprocessability of the instruments, usually making reprocessing more difficult. In particular cleaning--the removal of contaminations from tiny lumina, joints, etc., is highly demanding. In addition, proof of successful cleaning is difficult, and no standardised method of doing this in practice is currently available. An overview of the problems associated with the reprocessing of instruments for minimal invasive surgery is given, and a numbers of possible solutions are discussed.