Ultrasound endoscopes and routine microbiological surveillance - another critical device in reprocessing

Area of Science:

• Medical Microbiology
• Infection Control
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Periodic microbiological surveillance of gastrointestinal endoscopes is recommended to ensure effective reprocessing.
• Maintaining endoscope hygiene is critical for patient safety and preventing healthcare-associated infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate differences in gastrointestinal endoscope contamination based on endoscope type.
• To assess the effectiveness of current reprocessing standards in preventing microbial contamination.

Main Methods:

• Microbiological analysis of 437 samples from various gastrointestinal endoscopes after reprocessing.
• Incubation on sheep blood agar, identification via MALDI-TOF MS or other methods, and colony-forming unit (cfu) counting.
• Defined contamination based on specific microbial presence (≥20 cfu/20 mL or specific pathogens) regardless of cfu count.

Main Results:

• Overall contamination rate was 2.5% (11/437 samples).
• Significant variation in contamination by endoscope type: ultrasound endoscopes (20.0%), colonoscopes (1.4%), gastroscopes (0.5%), duodenoscopes (0%), and enteroscopes (0%) (P < 0.001).
• Ultrasound endoscopes exhibited the highest proportion of contaminated samples.

Conclusions:

• A small overall proportion of gastrointestinal endoscopes were contaminated.
• Significant differences in contamination rates exist among endoscope types.
• Ultrasound endoscopes demonstrated the poorest performance regarding contamination, suggesting a need for enhanced surveillance and reprocessing protocols.