Stethoscope barriers narrative review; It's time for a strategy unfriendly to multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs)

Area of Science:

• Infection Control
• Medical Device Hygiene
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Current stethoscope hygiene practices fail to eliminate harmful pathogen transmission, including multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs).
• Rising prevalence of MDRO infections necessitates improved patient safety measures.
• Traditional chemical cleaning methods for stethoscopes present limitations in preventing cross-contamination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a narrative literature review on the efficacy of stethoscope barriers as an improvement over current hygiene standards.
• To evaluate the potential of touch-free barrier systems in enhancing patient safety.
• To compare barrier effectiveness against traditional cleaning methods and disposable stethoscopes.

Main Methods:

• Searched PubMed for English articles published after 1990 using terms like "stethoscope barrier" and author-specific searches.
• Included articles that evaluated or discussed stethoscope barriers.
• Screened 28 manuscripts, with 15 meeting the inclusion criteria for the review.

Main Results:

• Barriers were deemed superior if single-use, disposable, touch-free, pathogen-impervious, and acoustically invisible.
• Disposable diaphragm barriers on personal stethoscopes offer improved patient safety and experience.
• Barriers outperform disposable stethoscopes and isopropyl alcohol cleaning in preventing pathogen transmission.

Conclusions:

• A practitioner's personal stethoscope with a disposable diaphragm barrier should be the new standard of care.
• This approach significantly improves patient safety and experience compared to existing methods.
• Implementing barrier technology addresses the critical need for enhanced stethoscope hygiene in combating MDROs.