Guidelines for Reprocessing Non-Lumened, Heat-Sensitive ENT Endoscopes

Endoscopes have become an indispensable instrument in the ENT department, but their use has introduced potential health risks such as the infection transmission. Numerous guidelines have been issued for both digestive and respiratory endoscopes, while to date specific references to ENT endoscopes do not exist. The diagnostic ENT endoscope does not generally have an operative channel, it is shorter, thinner and has a much more frequent usage. As a consequence the guidelines for digestive or respiratory endoscopes are not always functional for the ENT department. This paper proposes:1. to standardize the correct way to carry out the disinfection procedure of heat-sensitive non-lumened ENT endoscopes, 2. to guarantee the disinfection within a limited time frame, appropriate for an ENT out-patients department. In the initial phase the critical areas encountered in ENT endoscopy were determined. This was followed by a research of the literature in order to identify existing guidelines for the reprocessing of endoscopes with a view to establishing a common disinfection procedure of non-lumened ENT endoscopes. Finally, the new methods of disinfection, developed specifically for the reprocessing of ENT endoscopes were examined and discussed.