Having Problems with Surgical Instruments

Re: Having Problems with Surgical Instruments

Honeybadger — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:25:58 GMT

Some notes from a CPD event I ran recently on instrument care:

Common Problems:

Coloured Spots

Cause - Mineral staining brought out of tap water by sterilisation process

Remedy – Always use distilled water in the autoclave

Rust coloured stains

Cause - Ferric compounds in tap water, rusty instrument (needle/scalpel blade) or rusty component in autoclave

Remedy - Distilled water, check instruments, check autoclave.

Rust

Cause - Caustic chemical damage, flaw in metal, incorrect cleaning particularly of joints and racks

Remedy - Care with cleaning substances, thorough cleaning and inspection.

Re: Having Problems with Surgical Instruments

FionaA — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:10:53 GMT

Thanks Sal and Sisterscope, very helpful!

Re: Having Problems with Surgical Instruments

sisterscope1 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:08:14 GMT

This is also a really helpful brochure for troubleshooting problems with instruments http://www.a-k-i.org/index.php?id=11&L=1

Re: Having Problems with Surgical Instruments

Sal the 1st — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:44:58 GMT

there are a few manufacturers that are turning out cheap /questionable quality instruments. It depends where your supplier has sourced them from. A lot of the ones with problems are being made in India and China but may carry logos for German companies. Somewhere you may be able to get a little advice from is if you can find somebody friendly down at the local hospital HSDU - I have found the one near me quite useful in the past (also helps to get you face known as then you can find yourself in line for overstock or cast off items that can be really useful).

There is another thread on here - I will look out the link for you

http://www.vetnurse.co.uk/forums/p/14097/116311.aspx#116311

I do have a list of names to avoid - PM me if you need them ( these have mostly come from boxes and boxes of new instruments that were passed to me from NHS as rejects but I feel sure there will be more out there)