The Pulse | Monday, October 15, 2018

Release of Updated Position Statement

Staying up to date on these statements is one of the main pillars to infection prevention and patient safety. Earlier this fall, SGNA announced the release of the position statement, Management of Endoscopic Accessories, Valves, and Water and Irrigation Bottles (2018). The updated position statement combines three of our previous positions into one comprehensive practice document. Management of Endoscopic Accessories, Valves, and Water and Irrigation Bottles supersedes our following three position statements:

• Reuse of Single-Use Critical Medical Devices (2015)
• Statement on Water and Irrigation Bottles Used During Endoscopy (2014)
• Statement on Reprocessing of Endoscopic Accessories and Valves (2014)

“Gastroenterology settings must employ best practices to ensure patient safety. Proper reprocessing is critical to the safe treatment of patients (Alvarado, Reichelderfer, & the 1997, 1998 and 1999 APIC Guidelines Committees, 2000; ASGE, 2008; SGNA, 2017; SGNA, 2013). Infection prevention should be a guiding factor in selecting endoscopic accessories, valves, and water bottles because cross-contamination can transmit infection,” the position document states.

SGNA believes that patients deserve the same standard of care regardless of practice setting. SGNA supports the following positions:

1. End users must have access to and understanding of the manufacturer’s labeling and they must follow the instructions for use (IFU) of single, reusable, or multiuse devices.
2. All reusable medical devices must be reprocessed according to validated manufacturers’ instructions for use. Follow manufacturer’s IFU outlining approved methods to achieve high level disinfection or sterilization, either by manual means or in FDA cleared AERs or sterilization systems (ASGE, 2017).
3. All medical devices originally manufactured and labeled as single-use must not be reprocessed or reused (SGNA, 2015a).

Read the full position statement here.