POST 01299E: ALTERNATIVE USE OF PORTABLE STEAM STERILIZERS
5 AUGUST 2008
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Apologies for the delay in posting this query and the response
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Dear all,
I would like to thank everyone for all those informative articles posted in this forum. Although i might not have been an active respondent i have been following most of the issues and discussions posted in this forum and for me its really informative. I would like to seek advice or rather know the experience in other country regarding the alternative use of portable steam sterilizers used for sterilizing plastic syringes. Bhutan now uses AD syringes for all immunization purposes and disposable syringes for other injections. Therefore the use of this single and double rack steam sterilizer is limited. Can the rack be removed and use to sterilize other instruments? but will it be effective???
Karma Tshering ([[email protected]][email protected][/email])
Vaccine Preventable Disease Program
Bhutan
An element of reply to the question is that proper steam sterilization can be achieved with any medical equipment using the steam sterilizers which were once used for syringes.
Sterilization is achieved if the instruments are exposed to saturated vapour for 20 minutes at 121°C which is how the steam sterilizers are designed to operate
The problem however of removing the racks is that the instruments will then be exposed to water and saturated vapour and not only to vapour. Therefore the racks would have to be replaced by some type of platform or modified rack to avoid that the instruments are immersed.
In fact such racks for other type of medical instruments do exist. Some of them were referred to in the WHO Product Information Sheets. They may have now been removed from the PIS but are probably still available from the Manufacturers. I have lost track but I believe that the company's name was Trisolar in Australia. Other companies were Galeno inItaly and Prestige in the UK but there are certainly others
Hope this helps
Michel ([email=Zaffran,%20Michel%20Jose]Zaffran,%20Michel%20Jose[/email])
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