title: [Surveillance cultures after high-level disinfection of flexible endoscopes in a general hospital].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Flexible endoscopes are instruments with a complex structure which are used in invasive gastroenterological procedures, therefore high-level disinfection (HLD) is recommended as an appropriate reprocessing method. However, most hospitals do not perform a quality control to assess the compliance and results of the disinfection process.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effectiveness of the flexible endoscopesâ€™ decontamination after high-level disinfection by surveillance cultures and to assess the compliance with the reprocessing guidelines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive study conducted in January 2013 in the Gastroenterological Unit of a tertiary hospital. 30 endoscopic procedures were randomly selected. Compliance with guidelines was evaluated and surveillance cultures for common bacteria were performed after the disinfection process.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the observational assessment, compliance with the guidelines was as follows: pre-cleaning 9 (30%), cleaning 5 (16.7%), rinse 3 (10%), first drying 30 (100%), disinfection 30 (100%), final rinse 0 (0%) and final drying 30 (100%), demonstrating that only 3 of 7 stages of the disinfection process were optimally performed. In the microbiological evaluation, 2 (6.7%) of the 30 procedures had a positive culture obtained from the surface of the endoscope. Furthermore, 1 (4.2%) of the 24 biopsy forcepsgave a positive culture. The organisms isolated were different Pseudomonas species.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High-level disinfection procedures were not optimally performed, finding in 6.7% positive cultures of Pseudomonas species.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Christie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Turín
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Villar
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huerta-Mercado
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Lima, Perú.
authors.forename: Frine
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Samalvides
mesh_terms: D004203:Disinfection / Q000592:standards*; D019723:Endoscopes; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006769:Hospitals, General