The Clinical Significance of Reuse Disposable Instruments for Laparoscopic Surgery.
- Author:
Yi Ho LEE
1
;
Jong Woo KIM
;
Chul Woon CHUNG
;
Seong Geun HONG
Author Information
1. Department of Surgery, CHA University Bundang CHA Hospital, Seongnam, Korea. wehrwolf@cha.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Laparoscopy;
Laparoscopic instrument;
Disposable instrument
- MeSH:
Bacteria;
Ethylene Oxide;
Ethylenes;
Foreign Bodies;
Glutaral;
Korea;
Laparoscopy;
Staphylococcus;
Sterilization;
Streptococcus;
Surgical Instruments
- From:Journal of the Korean Society of Endoscopic & Laparoscopic Surgeons
2011;14(1):17-21
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: Laparoscopic instruments have been remarkably developed through many trials. Various studies and experiments on laparoscopic instruments are underway in other countries. Laparoscopic surgery is also very actively applied in Korea. However, research on the use and safety of the instruments is stagnant. Furthermore, reuse of some disposable laparoscopic instruments is frequently observed, but there are only rare studies on the safety of this. Thus, we tried to provide study cases on the safety of repeated use of disposable laparoscopic instruments. METHODS: To investigate the effectiveness of sterilization and a re-package procedure, we divided the laparoscopic instruments that are commonly used in our institution into 10 types. Among all the available instruments, 32 instruments were selected for the simulation experiment. Each instrument was sterilized using ethylene oxide gas or glutaraldehyde 2%, and then packaged. Then, each was observed grossly and microscopically under aseptic conditions and we looked for any remnant foreign body or contaminant. When remnant foreign body or contaminant was found, they were collected and separately cultured. RESULTS: Residual contaminants were found in 15 instruments (46.9%) out of a total of 32 and microorganisms, including coagulase-negative staphylococcus and gamma-hemolytic streptococcus, were cultured from (9.38%), and each had different types of microorganisms. CONCLUSION: It is remarkable that the bacteria were cultured from recycled laparoscopic instruments after sterilization. The reuse of laparoscopic instruments might be cost-effective, but further studies on its safety are required. Moreover, careful inspection on the method of surgical instrument sterilization in each institution will be necessary.
