The US FDA has recommended four additional steps healthcare facilities can take to clean infection-prone duodenoscopes beyond meticulously following the manufacturer’s instructions.
The FDA acknowledged that not every healthcare facility may have the resources and expertise to implement these precautionary measures. It also cautioned that the risk of transmitting an infection with a contaminated duodenoscope cannot be completely eliminated. However, “the benefits of these devices continue to outweigh the risks in appropriately selected patients,” the agency said.
The FDA suggests implementing one or more of the following measures to minimize the risk of spreading an infection with duodenoscopes:
- Microbiological culturing
- Ethylene oxide gas sterilization
- Liquid chemical sterilant processing system
- Repeat high-level disinfection
