Reprocessing of single-use endoscopic biopsy forceps and snares. One hospital's study.

Financial pressures imposed on hospitals by health maintenance organizations and insurers have prompted investigation into alternative procedures that reduce expenses while maintaining the high standards required for patient care. Although not necessarily mutually exclusive, these dual agendas pose a challenge for endoscopy managers charged with balancing the risks and benefits of reusable and disposable endoscopy instruments. Our endoscopy unit elected to evaluate the feasibility of reducing costs by using reprocessed single-use devices. Following the selection of a third party reprocessor and prior to using any reprocessed devices in the clinical setting, our facility decided to submit single use devices that had been used once for reprocessing and then have an independent laboratory test them for sterility. Although we followed a thorough, multi-disciplinary approach, our end result led us to conclude that the cleaning, reprocessing, and resterilization of single-use biopsy forceps and snares is a greater challenge than previously anticipated. Reprocessing of the single-use devices tested did not result in endoscopic instruments that met acceptable standards for sterility at our institution.