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Endoscopic Disinfection
Publication Date: April 1, 2019
Last Updated: March 14, 2022
Recommendations
Recommended changes to reprocessing and storage
Precleaning
— Precleaning must be carried out immediately after use.
6731
Cleaning
— Cleaning (manual or using an automatic flexible endoscope reprocessor (AFER) with an FDA or nationally approved cleaning cycle) must be carried out promptly* within 30 minutes after precleaning.
* “Promptly” in these guidelines means within 30 minutes.
6731
Disinfection
— After manual cleaning of the endoscope, machine or manual high-level disinfection must be undertaken promptly.
— Endoscopes should be thoroughly rinsed with bacteria-free water after disinfection.
6731
Alcohol flush and forced-air drying
— After disinfection by any means, the endoscope must have a prompt initial alcohol flush and forced-air drying† for 10 minutes and storage in an approved forced-air storage/drying cabinet. ‡
† The endoscope may be used on another patient after the initial forced-air drying, but it must be placed in the storage cabinet if not immediately used for another patient procedure.
‡ See below on drying cabinets.