Analysis | Author: AJ Plunkett | June 29, 2021

Please keep in mind that instruments used for patients with infectious prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) require special cleaning and handling, so please handle these disposable bronchoscopes with care. Editor's note: This article was originally published by the HCPro Certification and Quality Compliance Center. Please note that the FDA has issued new recommendations on the reprocessing of flexible bronchoscopes. If the risk of spreading infection increases or the reusable version cannot be processed anymore, it is recommended to use a disposable version of the device. Most of the recommendations issued in 2015 remain unchanged. However, in the June 25 update, the FDA stated that it provided the following new recommendations:

Editor's note: This article was originally published by the HCPro Certification and Quality Compliance Center.

Please note that the FDA has issued new recommendations on the reprocessing of flexible bronchoscopes. If the risk of spreading infection increases or the reusable version cannot be processed anymore, it is recommended to use a disposable version of the device.

Most of the recommendations issued in 2015 remain unchanged.

However, in the June 25 update, the FDA stated that it provided the following new recommendations:

Consider “the use of disposable bronchoscopes in situations where the risk of infection transmission is increased (for example, multi-drug resistant microorganisms, immunocompromised patients, or patients with prion diseases) or when immediate reprocessing of the bronchoscope is not supported.” and “In treatment For patients with coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2019, please refer to the latest recommendations of the American Association of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (AABIP)."

Please keep in mind that instruments used for patients with infectious prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) require special cleaning and handling, so please handle these disposable bronchoscopes with care.

According to the CDC’s recommendations on CJD-related infection control, the agency recommends that “all related to highly infectious tissues (brain, spinal cord, and eyes) and low infectious tissues (cerebrospinal fluid, kidneys, liver, lungs, lymph nodes, and spleen of patients with suspected or confirmed TSE) And placenta) should be treated by incineration."

At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pointed out that “surfaces and heat-sensitive reusable devices that contact highly infectious and low-infectious tissues should be purified by submerging or soaking in 2N NaOH or undiluted sodium hypochlorite for 1 hour, and then rinsed with water. The CDC also added that "sodium hypochlorite may be corrosive to some instruments."

AJ Plunkett is the editor of the Simplify Compliance publication Inside Accreditation & Quality.

AJ Plunkett is the editor of the Simplify Compliance publication Inside Accreditation & Quality.

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