How to care for and maintain flexible endoscopes
Abstract
Endoscopy is used frequently as a diagnostic tool in veterinary medicine. It is imperative that endoscopes are maintained correctly to prevent spread of infection/disease to patients, and to prevent costly repairs to these delicate pieces of equipment.
The role of endoscope maintenance generally falls onto the veterinary nurse/technician. The correct maintenance of this equipment is essential to ensure that health and safety requirements are adhered to and to prevent damage occurring to the equipment.
Maintenance involves adequate cleaning, bedside procedure, disinfectant, handling, storage, preventative maintenance and servicing/repairs.
Endoscopy equipment is expensive to purchase, however if maintained correctly it will be an invaluable investment in diagnostic investigation for patients. It is imperative that there is a good understanding of how to clean endoscopes. Poor cleaning and maintenance can pose significant health and safety implications, in the worst case scenario causing transmission of disease to patients.
Maintenance of endoscopes includes safe handling, bedside procedure, disinfectant and sterilization, storage and repairs/servicing.
Endoscopes are made up from very delicate components including fibre optics which are arranged in high precision, well ordered coherent optical fibre bundles, charged coupled device chips and small channels (Figure 1) (Holland and Shoop, 2000). These parts can become damaged if care is not taken when handling, setting up the endoscope, during the procedure, cleaning and transportation.
If endoscopes are being transported away from the endoscopy unit, the endoscope should be stored in its original case to prevent damage (Simpson and Argyle, 1999).
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