The Effectiveness of Immersion Disinfection for Flexible Fiberoptic Laryngoscopes

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether highlevel disinfection renders fiberoptic laryngoscopes free of nonviral infectious microorganisms. METHODS: Six flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopes in heavy use were subjected to surveillance cultures at the beginning, middle, and end of the clinical workday after high-level disinfection to determine if microorganisms could be recovered. Control cultures were obtained by direct contamination of the endoscope with saliva. The rate of microorganism recovery from the endoscopes after high-level disinfection was determined and compared with control specimens. RESULTS: Among a total of 48 cultures submitted from in use but disinfected fiberoptic laryngoscopes, 1 positive culture (positive rate, 2.1%) for mold species was recovered. No positive bacterial cultures occurred. Eleven of 11 (100%) control cultures were positive for bacterial species ( P < 0.001). The confidence interval for the risk of microorganism contamination of a disinfected laryngoscope ranged from 0.11% to 11.6%. CONCLUSION: High-level disinfection provides a reasonably effective method of reducing bacterial and fungal contamination of flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopes. Appropriate surveillance technique should be used in each clinical setting with flexible fiberoptic scopes to ensure adequate disinfection effectiveness. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2004; 130:681-5.)