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Quebec hospital group reviews sterilization techniques
Infection Control Monitor, March 25, 2004
The Quebec Hospitals Association said March 22 it will review the practice of flash sterilization of surgical instruments, the
The announcement was a response to a Gazette expose that described how Montreal hospitals improperly sterilize surgical tools to save time and money, putting patients at higher risk of infection. The CDC and Canadian Standards Association both warn against the routine use of flash sterilization because of fears the instruments might get contaminated.
The process involves cleaning instruments quickly with a disinfectant, then placing them in a sealed container and putting them in an autoclave. The 10- to 12-minute procedure is supposed to kill germs, but it skips crucial disinfection steps. Experts recommend the use of flash sterilization only if an instrument falls to the floor during an operation, when time is important.
Proper sterilization is typically a three-hour process involving soaking, scrubbing, washing, wrapping, heating, and drying instruments. Hospitals sterilize the vast majority of instruments this way.
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