A growing body of evidence supports the use of certain single-use flexible bronchocopes (SFB) per the published abstract1 by John Garrett in October 2021 that was presented at the CHEST Annual Meeting which concluded:
"... the use of a sterile SFB should be considered to eliminate reprocessing failures, improve overall operational efficiency, and reduce potential acquisition of healthcare-associated infections."
This information comes after the recent safety communication and guideline updates made by the FDA for recommending single-use bronchoscopes for COVID-19 patients or in cases where there is increased risk of spreading infection.2 Furthermore, there was a previously published CHEST abstract by Mehta and Muscarella2 in April 2019, who presented the following:
"This study's findings suggest that... the cleaning and high-level disinfection of bronchoscopes performed in accordance with published guidelines and manufacturer instructions may not always be sufficiently effective to eliminate this risk."
During this infection-sensitive time, you can reduce the risk of cross-contamination with BFlex single-use bronchoscopes, which eliminate reprocessing and the associated time and cost.
1. John Garrett. (2021). Sterile, Single-use bronchocopes Reduces Associated Readmission Rates and Infection Risk: A Retrospective Clinical Analysis. Volume 16-, Issue 4, Supplement, A516, October 01, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2021.07.504
2. FDA Safety Communication, June 25, 2021: Flexible Bronchoscopes and Updated Recommendations for Reprocessing
3. Mehta A.C. & Muscarella L.F. (2020). Bronchoscope-Related "Superbug" Infections. Chest. 2020; 157(2): 454-469. Doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2019.08.003