How to Clean and Maintain an Endoscope: A Step-by-Step Guide
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Contemporary medicine endoscopes are important for the diagnosis and treatment of many conditions. These complex instruments provide healthcare professionals with a window they can use to see what is on the inside of every human. Still, before you begin an endoscopic procedure, it is important that you know how to clean and maintain an endoscope properly. In this guide to cleaning an endoscope, Smart Tech Med will cover everything needed for keeping your endoscope well-maintained and ensuring patient safety.
Pre-Cleaning: Gross Debris Removal
This first step involves gross debris removal from the surface of the outside of the endoscope. Here are some steps:
Gently wipe down with a lint-free cloth.
Flush remaining channels using water to clear any visible debris or organic material first.
Check for any signs of damage on the endoscope. If you detect anything, do not use it and report it immediately to whoever is concerned.
The Manual Cleaning: Heart of the Process
Manual cleaning is undoubtedly the step that ensures your endoscope remains free from contaminants and ready for use. Here are refined steps on how you should go about manual cleaning:
1. Immersion
Place an endoscope in a freshly prepared detergent solution according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
2. Clean External Surfaces
Clean all external surfaces using a soft brush around the endoscope and accessories used for cleaning purposes.
3. Channel Cleaning
Carefully scrub the suction cylinder and the instrument channel port until all traces of debris are removed.
Aspirate the detergent solution into the suction channel, attach the injection tube and channel plug, and flush the detergent solution through air and water channels.
Flush forceps-elevator if applicable.
Flush detergent solution into the auxiliary water/elevator-wire channel.
Rinse the endoscope in clean water thoroughly.
4. Final Flush
- Flush clean water through all channels, including the elevator-wire channel, if applicable.
- Flush air through all channels to make sure they are absolutely clean.
Rinse and Air Dry: Getting Rid of Detergent Residue on the Endoscope
Once manual cleaning is done, it’s necessary to rinse it and then dry it with air properly:
- Take the endoscope out of the detergent solution.
- Thoroughly rinse the endoscope in copious amounts of clean water so that any residual detergent that remains behind will be removed.
- Again, flush air through all channels so that there remains no moisture left back there.
- Once done, let it dry thoroughly after the endoscope. This is very important in killing the growth of harmful bacteria.
Documentation: Keeps Record
To ensure accountability as well as have a record of how clean and maintained the endoscope has been, diligent documentation must be mandatory:
Record when the cleaning and maintenance of the endoscope are done, including the date, time, and initials of who did it. Such records will trace the frequency that the endoscope has been used, thus ensuring that it is always cleaned and maintained as required by its manufacturer.
The Bottom Line
Finally, cleaning and maintaining an endoscope can be tiresome because much detail is involved in doing so, as well as following manufacturers’ instructions. By following these steps, healthcare professionals can make sure that endoscopic procedures are as safe as possible. This will surely be able to provide the best care possible for their patients. As always, a clean endoscope is a safe endoscope.
We manufacture a wide range of endoscope accessories such as:
If you need to purchase endoscope spare parts, you can contact Smart Tech Med for more details.
