Enzymatic detergent reuse in gastroscope processing: a potential source of microorganism transmission.
Maria Letícia de Miranda Mati, Natália Rocha Guimarães, Paula Prazeres Magalhães and 2 others
PMID 31826156WHAT IT FOUND
Reusing the same enzymatic detergent solution for gastroscopes increased microbial contamination, including Pseudomonas.
Nurses who clean endoscopes should not assume reuse is harmless, because the solution has no bactericidal action.
Key findings
01Microbial load in the enzymatic detergent solution increased with reuse, with mean values of 3.99x10^5 CFU per solution after first use and 1.34x10^6 CFU after fifth reuse.
02Gram negative rods were present in 44.7% of aliquots, and Pseudomonas spp. was the most frequently isolated microorganism at 36.8%.
03As the cleaning solution was reused, Gram negative microorganisms, especially Pseudomonas spp., were found more frequently, unlike Gram positive bacteria.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It was done in one hospital endoscopy service, so it may not represent other settings. It measured contamination in detergent solution samples, not infections in patients or direct patient outcomes. Only 19 solutions were analysed. The detergent preservative may inhibit bacterial growth and alter viability, so recovered counts could be affected. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated microorganisms was not assessed. The clinic reused solution per shift of about six hours regardless of how many endoscopes were immersed, so the number of immersions was not controlled.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not report funding sources or author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this study proved patients were infected by reused detergent. It measured microbial load in detergent solution samples, not patient infections or transmission events.