Webinar: “No Compromise for Bronchoscope Reprocessing”

Professor Venneri discusses the challenges of bronchoscope reprocessing, the risks associated with high-level disinfection and the responsibilities of healthcare services in preventing surgical site infections (SSIs).

Key Takeaways:

• Bronchoscopes are complex devices, typically used in semi-critical procedures, that contain both heat- and moisture-sensitive components¹
• Inadequate cleaning of bronchoscopes using high-level disinfection, a labour-intensive process with a low margin of safety, puts patients at risk of healthcare-associated infection¹
• This has led to a shift in reprocessing guidelines towards the use of sterilization as standard for endoscope reprocessing¹
• Sterilization of bronchoscopes provides a greater margin of safety than high-level disinfection, therefore protecting patients from risk of healthcare-associated infection and reducing the financial burden associated with them¹

Professor Venneri is an emergency medicine and trauma surgeon and the clinical risk manager and patient safety officer for the Florence Healthcare Service, Italy.

His other roles include:

• Member of Tuscany Regional Center for Patient Safety and Risk Management
• Secretary General of The Italian Network For Safety in Healthcare (INSH) – Italian Branch of ISQua
• Italian Ministry of Health Consultant for Sentinel Events analysis
• Scientific consultant for Patient Safety Issues of the Italian Society of Digestive Endoscopy
• Professor of Clinical Risk Management University of Florence School of Medicine and Nursing