Disposable Medical Devices Should Be Thrown Out

The reuse of Single Use Devices (SUDs) remains common practice in Australian hospitals, exposing patients to unnecessary risks, according to the latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.

A recent follow-up survey, conducted by Associate Professor Peter Collignon and colleagues from the Infection Control Service at The Canberra Hospital, shows that although fewer hospitals are reusing SUDs than was the case at the time of the initial survey in 1994, the rate is still too high.

In 1994, 68 per cent of Australia's public and private hospitals were reusing SUDs. This survey, repeated in 2001 using a similar questionnaire, showed that the reuse of SUDs had dropped to 15 per cent, although the authors suggest this underestimates the rate of reuse, because fewer large public hospitals responded to the second survey.

The results showed that large hospitals reused these devices more often than smaller hospitals and that reuse was slightly lower in private hospitals than public hospitals. Rural hospitals reused SUDs less often than metropolitan hospitals.

Dr Collignon said SUDs are usually made from heat-sensitive materials. They have to be sterilised using chemicals instead of the more effective extreme heat method of autoclaving, which can only be used on more robust materials.

A recent report by the National Health and Medical Research Council said that almost all SUDs were contaminated with foreign material, including blood.

"The commonest SUDs reused were diathermy pencils," Dr Collignon said.

"Given their low cost ($5), the labour costs of reprocessing would exceed the cost of replacement. Diathermy pencils can become contaminated with blood during surgical procedures.

"We believe that reusing such relatively inexpensive items is inappropriate from both financial and infection control perspectives," Dr Collignon said.

Reuse of SUDs has been common in many countries, including the USA, but measures are in place, which should abolish the practice in the USA. In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration has announced that reprocessing of SUDs will be regulated, which should ultimately end the practice here.

The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.

CONTACT:
Associate Professor Peter Collignon, 02 6286 4052 (H), 02 6224 2105 (W)
Judith Tokley, AMA, 0408 824 306