Webinar: “No Compromise for Reprocessing of Urologic Scopes”

Professor Venneri discusses the advantages and disadvantages of both high-level disinfection and sterilization of urology endoscopes, and looks at the needs and challenges for urology specialists in minimising the of risk surgical site infections.

Key Takeaways:

• Urological endoscopes are complex devices that can be used both critically and semi-critically, leading to potential confusion over the level of reprocessing required¹
• Inadequate cleaning of urologic endoscopes using high-level disinfection and use of urologic endoscopes despite insufficient reprocessing for their next procedure can result in healthcare-associated infections and pose a significant risk to patient safety¹
• This has led to a shift in reprocessing guidelines towards the use of sterilization as standard for endoscope reprocessing, which offers a higher standard of patient care and a more convenient reprocessing method¹
• Sterilization of urologic scopes provides a greater margin of safety than high-level disinfection, therefore protecting patients from risk of healthcare-associated infections that occur when disinfected devices are used critically and reducing the financial burden associated with them¹

Professor Venneri is an emergency medicine and trauma surgeon and the current 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