Disinfection and Sterilization of Endoscope Using in Operating Room: Effects of Four Methods and Their Evaluation

OBJECTIVE To discuss which sterilization methods of endoscope using in operating room are safe,highly effective and practicable.METHODS Totally 120 peritoneoscopes and rhinoscopes were divided randomly into four groups named A,B,C and D,which used four different sterilizing methods in high pressure,ethylene oxide,plasma hydrogen peroxide and soak with 2% alkaline glutaraldehyde,respectively.To evaluate their sterilization effects,we compared number of cultural bacterial colonies derived from the endoscope before cleaning and after cleaning.RESULTS All parts of endoscopes existed contamination in certain degree.The number of bacterial colonies ranged from zero to infinity.The average number of colonies after using and before cleaning had no statistical significance(P0.05).After sterilization,the average number of colonies among each group had no statistical significance(P0.05).CONCLUSIONS The effects of the four sterilization methods are uniform.Plasma hydrogen peroxide is a highly effective,safe and with environmental protection method.Soak for 30 minutes with 2% alkaline glutaraldehyde is a supplementary method when using high pressure or ethylene oxide methods.