Page 12 - The Care and Handling of Flexible Scopes v3

Care of Flexible Endoscopes

Do not use a brush to clean the eyepiece and the distal lens! Use only a soft cloth to
clean the eyepiece and distal lens.

8. Rinsing the Endoscope and Channels

Thoroughly rinse the scope’s surface and channels with tap or, ideally, with treated
water for the number of flushes prescribed by the manufacturer. It is very important to
use the prescribed pressure settings for the pressurized water flush device! Pressure
that’s too high can cause the channel’s lining to tear, resulting in unnecessary repairs.
Use the water flush device recommended by the manufacturer and the manufacturer’s
prescribed pressure with a number of pulses for the device. It is very important to rinse
all detergent from the channels and endoscope. Detergent residue could impede
sterilization or high-level disinfection and aid in the formation of biofilm.

9. Disinfection Prior to Assembly

Decontamination removes some bacterial contamination, but not all. For safe handling,
your hospital may use a disinfectant prior to transferring the endoscope to the assembly
side of CSSD or transfer to the patient care area for clean storage or further processing.
A disinfection cycle can be completed manually, with a machine that only disinfects, or
with a machine that cleans and disinfects.

When using a manual process, ensure that all of the disinfectant solution has direct
contact with all surfaces and channels of the endoscope in order for the chemical to be
effective. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for details on disinfection following
manual cleaning, whether that is a machine process.
The automated machines can be referred to as an AER (Automatic Endoscope Re-
processor) or an ECR (Endoscope Cleaner Re-processor) and are designed for further
cleaning and disinfecting. Some machines will only perform disinfection, some will
perform sterilization (STERIS System 1E), and some will do all the steps: leakage testing,
cleaning, disinfection and drying (ECR). Perform the following steps before using an
automated machine:

1. Ensure that the machine has been approved by the flexible endoscope’s
manufacturer.
2. Manually perform a leakage test before manual cleaning and manually clean before
placing the flexible endoscope into a machine.
3. Ensure that all users understand the capability of the machine; don’t use a machine
to clean and disinfect when the intent of the machine is only to disinfect.
4. Ensure that the operating steps, chemicals used, and quality tests for the machine
are all performed according to the machine manufacturer’s instructions.

Page | 12 Avensys UK Ltd