Each year in the United States there are
approximately 53 million outpatient surgical procedures and 46 million
inpatient surgical procedures.1 For example, there are at least 10 million
gastrointestinal endoscopies per year.2 Each of these procedures involves
contact by a medical device or surgical instrument with a patient's sterile
tissue or mucous membranes. A major risk of all such procedures is the
introduction of infection. Failure to properly disinfect or sterilize equipment
carries not only the risk associated with breach of the host barriers but also
the additional risk for person-to-person transmission (e.g., hepatitis B virus)
and transmission of environmental pathogens (e.g., Clostridium difficile).
Achieving disinfection and sterilization
through the use of disinfectants and sterilization practices is essential for
ensuring that medical and surgical instruments do not transmit infectious
pathogens to patients. Because it is unnecessary to sterilize all patient care
items, health care policies must identify whether cleaning, disinfection, or
sterilization is indicated based primarily on the item's intended use.
Sterilization is the complete elimination
or destruction of all forms of microbial life and is accomplished in health
care facilities by either physical or chemical processes. Steam under pressure,
dry heat, ethylene oxide (ETO) gas (Ethylene Oxide Sterilizer), hydrogen peroxide gas plasma (Hydrogen Peroxide Plasma
Sterilizer), vaporized hydrogen peroxide, and liquid chemicals are
the principal sterilizing agents used in health care facilities. Sterilization
is intended to convey an absolute meaning, not a relative one. Unfortunately,
some health care professionals as well as the technical and commercial
literature refer to “disinfection” as “sterilization” and items as “partially
sterile.” When chemicals are used for the purposes of destroying all forms of
microbiologic life, including fungal and bacterial spores, they may be called
chemical sterilants. These same germicides used for shorter exposure periods
may also be part of the disinfection process (i.e., high-level disinfection).
As an independent technical team of Galbino, Galbino Infection Control Divison (GTI-IC) is committed to combining international design, quality standards, and China's cost advantages to provide users with cost-effective (high-quality, high-efficiency) integrated sterilization solutions. Our core business is to provide comprehensive solutions for the Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD), including technical consultation, program design, equipment supply, training and maintenance, and assurance of consumables.
Link: National Library of Medicine
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7099662/