Endoscope drying/storage cabinet: interest and efficacy

Inadequate drying of endoscope channels is a possible cause of microbial proliferation during storage. This risk could be reduced by any procedure or process used to dry endoscope channels and control storage conditions. The efficacy of a drying and storage cabinet (Hysis Medical) was tested on three different endoscopes: a colonoscope (Olympus); duodenoscope (Fujinon) and an enteroscope (Pentax), all of which had been artificially contaminated with a suspension of Pseudomonas aeruginosa CIP 103467. Changes to the residual internal contamination level of these endoscopes when stored inside or outside the drying cabinet for 12, 24, 48 or 72 h were compared. When stored in the drying and storage cabinet, microbial contamination levels on endoscopes were lower than the number of bacteria initially introduced and could decrease considerably thereafter. For endoscopes stored outside the drying storage cabinet, microbial numbers were stable or even increased. These data demonstrate the advantages of such endoscope drying/storage cabinets that limit the risk of bacterial proliferation in the internal channels of endoscopes during storage, and which ensure that the disinfection level reached at the end of the reprocessing procedure is maintained.