Central Service - Issue 1/05

EDITORIAL

The Spoken Word

NEWS UPDATE

What's New in Standardisation: Adopted with Commentary
First Workshop of the Bulgarian Society for Sterile Supply "Bulsteri"
Thanks to Editorial Board Members

MAIN ARTICLES

A.C.P. de Bruijn, A.W. van Drongelen:
Performance Evaluation of Hospital Steam Sterilisers Using the European Helix Test

Abstract
The Bowie & Dick test is used by manufacturers of steam sterilisers to design the sterilisation cycle in line with the requirements of the European standard for large steam sterilisers, EN285. Hospitals use it as the reference load in operational qualification and re-qualification and as the daily steam penetration test. However, textile packs are rarely sterilised in hospitals and complicated laparoscopic instruments provide a new challenge to the sterilisation cycle. It is time to review the value of the Bowie & Dick test in light of the items that are nowadays sterilised and perhaps choose another type of reference device for the design and qualification of large steam sterilisers (1). The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment conducted a study in 20 hospitals to determine whether the sterilisers are capable of passing the standard helix test according to EN867-5 (2). All sterilisers passed the Bowie & Dick test but of the 476 tests conducted with the helix 41% failed. The study shows that the ability of the steriliser to pass the helix test depends on the test conditions and the type of air removal. An air removal stage of the sterilisation cycle that is suitable to remove the air from a textile pack is not necessarily suitable for the air removal from hollow devices.

A. Draghici, J. Gauer, W. Michels, K. Roth*:
Investigation of Cleaning Performance Following the Standard prEN/ISO 15883-1

Abstract
The radionuclide method was used to investigate comparatively the cleaning performance of automatic washing/disinfection processes on the critical joint areas of artery clips. The defined initial soil was radioactively marked coagulable blood. The results show the thorough effect of cleaning, which takes place in the presence of both an oxidative process stage, as well as a suitably composed detergent/hydrogen peroxide solution. Additionally, following elution of the joint areas, the direct measurements of the radionuclide method were correlated with the indirect determination of residual contamination in the eluate using the OPA method.

U. Kaiser:
Effects of Non-Condensable Gases (NCGs) on Steam Sterilisation Processes

R. Fleischhack:
Compiling Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Central Sterile Supply Departments (CSSDs) in Hospitals in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - A report from the field

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Guide to Compilation of Standard Operating Procedures