Original Article

J Minim Invasive Surg 2011; 14(1): 17-21

Published online June 15, 2011

© The Korean Society of Endo-Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgery

복강경 기구의 재사용에 대한 임상적 의의

이이호ㆍ김종우ㆍ정철운ㆍ홍성근1

CHA의과학대학교 분당차병원 외과학교실, 1진단검사의학과

The Clinical Significance of Reuse Disposable Instruments for Laparoscopic Surgery

Yi Ho Lee, M.D., Jong Woo Kim, M.D., Chul Woon Chung, M.D., Seong Geun Hong, M.D.1

Departments of Surgery and 1Laboratory Medicine, CHA University Bundang CHA Hospital, Seongnam, Korea

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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.

Keywords Laparoscopy, Laparoscopic instrument, Disposable instrument

Article

Original Article

J Minim Invasive Surg 2011; 14(1): 17-21

Published online June 15, 2011

Copyright © The Korean Society of Endo-Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgery.

복강경 기구의 재사용에 대한 임상적 의의

이이호ㆍ김종우ㆍ정철운ㆍ홍성근1

CHA의과학대학교 분당차병원 외과학교실, 1진단검사의학과

The Clinical Significance of Reuse Disposable Instruments for Laparoscopic Surgery

Yi Ho Lee, M.D., Jong Woo Kim, M.D., Chul Woon Chung, M.D., Seong Geun Hong, M.D.1

Departments of Surgery and 1Laboratory Medicine, CHA University Bundang CHA Hospital, Seongnam, Korea

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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.

Keywords: Laparoscopy, Laparoscopic instrument, Disposable instrument

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