How to Clean Urological Equipment

Urological equipment such as resectoscopes and cystoscopes are medical instruments used in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of patients with urinary tract problems. After the physician is finished using the urological equipment to treat a patient, the instrument becomes contaminated with bacteria. These instruments are reusable. Before they can be used on the next patient, they have to be sterilized. The machine used for medical equipment sterilization is called an autoclave. The autoclave works by applying high pressure steam to the instruments, thereby killing any bacteria on the surface on the equipment. The following tips will show you how to properly autoclave urological equipment.

Instructions

• 1

  Prepare urological equipment before inserting into autoclave. The resectoscopes, cystoscopes, sheath and blunt obturator, scalpel, surgical trays, balloon catheters and clamps must all be separated and wrapped individually in dry brown autoclave paper, folded over the edges and stapled.

• 2

  Prepare the autoclave. Make sure the machine is plugged in correctly and that the appropriate lights are on. Make sure there is nothing inside the autoclave. Pour about 1 gallon of distilled water into the bottom of the autoclave, making sure the pan does not overflow.

• 3

  Load the urological equipment into the autoclave. Place the small, fragile instruments at the back of the autoclave and the large ones in the front. The reason is that when you close the latch, the door can hit and break the small equipment. Arrange the instruments in a way that they do not touch the walls of the autoclave. Push the door tightly and pull the latch down until you hear a click.

• 4

  Operate the autoclave. Turn on the autoclave, making sure the ventilation hoods are operating correctly. Choose the appropriate cycle and pressure settings for the material--in this case, because it is urological equipment, your cycle setting will be dry. Press cycle to begin the sterilization process. You will hear a beep once the cycle has completed.

• 5

  Unload the autoclave. Make sure you are wearing heat resisting gloves and eye goggles. Check that the pressure settings have defaulted to zero before opening. Slowly release the pressure latch and open the door. Let out any steam and wait for 15 minutes before removing the urological equipment. When the equipment has cooled, you can transfer them to the claiming area.