Preparation of instruments used in minimally invasive surgery in a washer-disinfector.

Abstract

The safe sterilisation of surgical instruments presumes that one is dealing with small amounts of standardised residual contamination and in particular, that the cleaning process adheres to good manufacturing practices, taking into account the protection of the personnel. Only mechanical processes can be standardised and are suitable for the preparation of surgical instruments. The development process which the instruments used in minimally invasive surgery have undergone, along with improvements in the field of cleaning technology and disinfection, now means that preparation of instruments of this nature can be entrusted to an automatic washer/disinfector. New cleaning and disinfection methods allow the complete array of instruments, including fibreoptic light guides and lenses, to be cleaned and disinfected in one procedure.