| [ Summary ] |
In Japan, the present guidelines describe the minimum necessary cleaning and disinfection of gastrointestinal endoscopes to be observed not only at specialized medical institutions but also at other general clinics. First, the principles of medical equipment classification and medical equipment management are dealt with as mandatory issues to prevent infectious accidents and damage due to drug exposure associated with clinical endoscopy for patients and medical employees. Secondly, practices in Japan and other countries were compared. Based on the actual situation in Japan, the importance of manual cleaning and hints for achieving prevention of contamination, the importance of washer‒disinfectors, instructions for use, reprocessing of treatment instruments, and recommendations for product disposal were described in the present guidelines. Although there is a distinct lack of evidence for how gastrointestinal endoscopes are cleaned and disinfected, it is necessary to standardize the method for doing so to advance the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy. |