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Quote:The standard sterilizing procedure called for the equipment to be flushed with a disinfecting solution, but officials grew concerned that blood and fecal residue might remain unless the tube were physically scrubbed as well.
It's possible but unlikely that someone could get infected that way, said Michael Erdmann, chief of staff of the Milwaukee VA Medical Center.
"We're concerned for the safety of our patients, but really, the odds are really quite low,'' he said.
The problem wasn't manpower so much as cleaning instructions provided by the manufacturer that didn't specify the need for a brush, Erdmann said.
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The device is a medical device approved for in-vivo use by the FDA. The instructions for use from the manufacturer are also approved by the FDA as part of the approval process. The risk here is extremely small and my guess is that the concern was raised by a discussion of a theoretical possibility, not the discovery of an infected individual exposed via the probe.
The instructions for use will be modified to include a physical scrub prior to the sterilizing wash and tens of thousands of people will panic about a highly unlikely but theoretically possible event.
What I'm curious about is why this notification is limited to VA Hospitals? If the product is in routine use elsewhere and other users were given different cleaning instructions by the manufacturer, then it's a bigger issue.
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