ET tubes

Re: ET tubes

Craig McDonald — Sun, 06 Oct 2013 19:51:10 GMT

We clean them with Hibitane at work and then soak them in Milton for 15mins before thoroughly rinsing and haven't had a problem.

Re: ET tubes

molladog — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 14:47:21 GMT

We use endoscope cleaning brushes 5mm x 230cm long which are brilliant. Available from Monmouth Surgical, 01278 458090. Supposed to be single use but we use them over + over again, disinfecting well between uses so very cheap.

Re: ET tubes

Sal the 1st — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 19:21:53 GMT

well I would vote for pipe cleaners too - they are cheap enough to buy so they can be frequently changed

Re: ET tubes

Steph Smith BSc(hons) RVN — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 17:32:50 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

pipe cleaners?

[/quote]

I've tried those before, little brightly coloured ones from a craft shop - but they totally went all rusty and erroded, and snapped at the points where I had bent them (I always bent one end and made a nobbly bit so it couldn't get lost down the tube). Waste of money!

Washing-up Liquid:

My bike mechanic told me Fairy, etc. has salt added, i.e. corrosive to rubber. OK you could technically still use it to clean the portex tubes but with all the saliva/mucous etc I would still use Enzystel (Medizyme).

Re: ET tubes

Paulette — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 23:51:29 GMT

Hey Stuart, thanks for reply :) We have the JAK ones you mentioned...I'll have a look for the smaller endoscopy ones ta. am putting brushes in Meddis daily :) thanks for all the advice :)

Re: ET tubes

Stuart Ford-Fennah — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 16:30:34 GMT

Hi Paulette,

I know what you mean bubbles just seem to be right :-)

Re brushes i can recommend the ones from JAK marketing:
Small code= 01-1585
Medium code = 01-1580
Large code = 01-1575
for tubes smaller than a 3.5/4 use an endocsopy channel brush you can get really cheap ones from various places - thing we got some from monmouth surgical last time of VES, OR keep ypou old ones from the scope - you know the ones which have kinked and you shouldnt use them in scopes any longer.

I would also make sure you put your brushes in what ever disinfectant solution your using (remember you can keep medis for 2-4weeks which makes it quite economical)
Hope this helps,

Stu

Re: ET tubes

molladog — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:45:43 GMT

Re: ET tubes

sarah wilks — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:45:23 GMT

Thanks guys, decided to go with Milton.

What dilution rates do you use?

Re: ET tubes

Gillian Mostyn — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 22:00:31 GMT

pipe cleaners?

Re: ET tubes

Paulette — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:36:19 GMT

Hi Stuart, yes we do the same now (no more hibi!) and have found the medizyme to work well on it's own (was doing medizyme first then hibi sorry!). I guess I just feel more satisfied if it's foamy and bubbly when brushing it out! lol I'm finding it hard to find brushes small enough for inside cat sized ETs - any suggestions? THANK YOU!

Re: ET tubes

Stuart Ford-Fennah — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:58:40 GMT

HI, im sure you could use washing up liquid however we use medizyme (green enzyme cleaner) soak for 10mins then brush out side (soft brissled brush) then use a tube brush for the centres, rinse off, then soak in medis (yellow disinfectant) for 30mins

the medizyme should celar all the gunk if your brushed the outside and used a tube brush on the inside, you can laways leave it to soak a bit longer if your owrried there is still gunk after youve brushed the inside through.

my thoughs are nothing woring with using washing up liquid but the medizyme should in theory do a better job at removing biological material. This is pretty much the same technique we use on our endoscopes (we do ETO them sometimes but not very often)

If you do use medis make sure you do rinse very throughtly

Re: ET tubes

KizzieB — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:58:42 GMT

Hey we use a wire baby bottle brush thats had the bristles cut down so that it fits inside the tubes. The wire bends to the shape of the tubes. Use really hot water & washing up liquid & rinse really well then milton, either tablets or liquid but make sure and dilute it properly according to the instructions. This will fade the tubes over time but by that stage the tubes will be ready for replacing anyway. Make sure & scrub the tubes inside & out when ur washing them.

All the best!!

Re: ET tubes

RVN alison — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 21:28:08 GMT

Hi there we use medistel or milton diluted with the correct amount of water to clean ET tubes, I didn't know hibiscrub was was that bad either we used to always use that until I found out in college to use milton or medistel.

Re: ET tubes

Paulette — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:19:21 GMT

Stuart: Is it ok to use washing up liquid as a detergent to clean inside and outside of tubes? or do you just flush through with Medizyme, rinse and then Meddis? I was thinking use washing up liquid in between Medizyme and Meddis to make sure all gunk etc is removed. Thanks

Re: ET tubes

Paulette — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:52:55 GMT

Hi Carolyn I agree it's really important to not only clean with the cuff inflated, but also leave it inflated whilst disinfecting to ensure full surface area is cleaned and disinfected. didn't know hibi was so bad so thank you Stuart for teaching me something!

Re: ET tubes

Carolyn Edwards — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:25:07 GMT

Once the ET tube has been thoroughly cleaned with detergent and rinsed with copious amounts of water you could use F10 to disinfect it. F10 can be used to nebulise animals so shouldn't irritate mucous membranes.

I've seen lots of people clean ET tubes (other than the rubber ones with flat cuffs) without inflating the cuff first so debris gets trapped between the folds of the cuff and doesn't come off until it is inflated. If you don't blow them up to check for leaks before intubating an animal then all that debris falls off in the animal's trachea. Has anyone else come across this?

Re: ET tubes

caz vn1 — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:00:02 GMT

we use medistel. you make it up according to instructions on the bottle and leave to soak for min 30mins (longer if worried about anything contagious)

then once soak time allowed also scrub out with bottle brushes-obv different sizes for diff tubes we have 3 sizes that cover all

then rinse thoroiughly and hang to dry out.

Hope that helps x

Re: ET tubes

Stuart Ford-Fennah — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 12:34:47 GMT

oh no dont use chlorhexidine! it binds to the rubber/plastic and casueses a lot of irrtation to mm!

saying that any chemical we use wiill cause irritation but chlorhexidine seems to eb the worst. we use medicmens solutions - the green enzymic cleaner thent he yellow disifectant. dont leave the tubes in the yellow part for more tha 30 mins though as they go brittle qute quickly - we accidently left one in over a wekeend once and it was prertty hard by the end :-)

make sure you wash really weell with copious amounts of water - i do mean really well. we have been doing this for over 2 years and have hand no issues with x cointamination of tube related irrition form the chemicals used.

Hope this helps?

Stu