VIDEO
Minimizing the Risk - Disposable Scopes in the GI Suite
Comparing Single-Use vs Reusable Duodenoscopes
Russ Montgomery, PhD, reviews the cost drivers in endoscopy and the value of single-use duodenoscopes.
Evidence-Based Strategies to Eliminate Bronchoscopy-Related Infections
Dr. Hudson Garrett Jr. reviews the current evidence-based standards to reduce the risk for cross-contamination.

Preventing Infection
If an endoscope sits for more than one hour between pre-cleaning and the start of manual cleaning, the scope should undergo what is known as delayed reprocessing.

Bronchoscopy Applications
In a year filled with new insights into endoscopy best practices and key developments with emerging technologies, one topic dominated reader interest above all others: COVID-19 and the impact of SARS-CoV-2.

Emerging Technologies
A study found the environmental impact of reusable and single-use flexible ureteroscopes to be comparable, with the single-use alternative generating slightly less kg of CO2 per case.

Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Applications
The FDA’s recommendation that duodenoscope manufacturers and healthcare facilities transition to different types of duodenoscopes that may pose less risk to patient safety was a common theme in our most-read stories of the year.

Prevention Challenges
Scratches to endoscope working channels can jeopardize reprocessing’s effectiveness. A study found that some new endoscopes are damaged prior to first use.

Emerging Technologies
Dr. Matthew Dahl is an otolaryngologist who sees patients at both the private Ear, Nose & Throat Center of Utah as well as on call at a local hospital. It was in the ICU recently where Dahl experienced firsthand what happens when the challenge of reprocessing endoscopes runs up against real-time patient care.

Prevention Challenges
Surgical masks and proper hand hygiene protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 during aerosol-generating procedures such as bronchoscopies. PPE is also vital to keeping endoscope reprocessing staffers safe.

Preventing Infection
A study highlights the correlation between the use of accessories and increased bacterial attachment to an endoscope’s inner channels.

Featured Article
Welcome! We created this online learning center to explore topics in flexible endoscopy and the work being performed in hospitals, clinics and private practices.
VIDEOS
UROLOGY
Ureteral Stent Removal with the aScope™ 4 Cysto
GASTROENTEROLOGY
Duodenoscope Contamination: A Systematic Review of The Evidence
HEALTH ECONOMICS