Efficacy of a simplified lower gastrointestinal flexible endoscope cleaning method

Published guidelines from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) “strongly recommended” gas sterilization or 30 minutes of high-level disinfection with either 2 percent glutaradehyde or 6 percent hydrogen peroxide following each flexible endoscope cleansing for proper care. The guidelines were proposed on the basis of previous CDC studies performed on glutaraldehyde disinfection of respiratory equipment. A prospective study was performed culturing flexible endoscopes following cannulation of the lower gastroinstestinal tract and cleansing. A uniform endoscope cleansing method without gas sterilization or high-level disinfection was used between patients. Thirty aerobic and 30 anaerobic RODAC bacterial culturings revealed no obligate anaerobic organism growth and only sparse, aerobic, environmental and cutaneous organism growth. These were no instances of documented or suspected postendoscopy infectious complications. Our results indicate that high-level disinfection and gas sterilization of flexible endoscopes are not necessary to prevent bacterial disease transmission from patient to patient. Read at the joint meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons with the Section of Colo-Proctology, Royal Society of Medicine, and the Section of Colonic and Rectal Surgery, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 6 to 11, 1984.